The Kingdom Hearts Chronicles: The Knife and the Key
by The 1597 Faceless Writer
Summary: It's been four years since Lucy Pevensie finished her final adventure in Narnia. Lucy longs to return to Narnia and see Aslan and when a mysterious boy from another world named Sora appears she believes she's found her way back. However, she soon finds herself thrust into an adventure in which the fate of all worlds hangs in the balance and sacrifices will have to be made.
1. Lucy Makes a Wish

Author's Note: This story will be the first in a trilogy. It starts off around four years after _the Voyage of the Dawn Treader_ and _the Silver Chair_ in the Narnia cannon and starts off during _Kingdom Hearts_ right before Neverland in the KH cannon. Lastly, I should state that I do not own any non-original characters in this story. I hope you all enjoy this Narnia/Kingdom Hearts crossover!_  
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The Kingdom Hearts Chronicles

The Knife and the Key

Chapter 1: Lucy Makes a Wish

Lucy Pevensie awoke to the sound of an owl hooting outside of her bedroom window. She quietly slipped out of bed and walked towards the window sill to stare at the owl. It was quite large for an owl that lived in the city but Lucy wasn't frightened by its large size. She had seen much larger and more frightening creatures before. She opened the window and yet the owl continued to stand there. She softly petted it for a few seconds until it flew off into the night in search of food. Lucy took in a deep breath of air before closing the window.

"I have to say that it's pretty cold for a night in the middle of June," she said to herself as she walked over to her bed. She sat down and proceeded to stare at a picture of herself when she was younger. The picture had been taken in 1940, six years previously, when she was only eight years old. A lot had happened that year. The raids on London by the Nazis, Lucy being forced to evacuate the city alongside her siblings: Peter, Susan, and Edmund, and then...her discovery of a magical world that lay just beyond an odd wardrobe in a professor's country estate. She cherished the memories of her time in the land of Narnia more than anything. She longed to ride through the woods in the summertime. She wished she could sing alongside the fauns and the dryads once more. She wished she could sit on the bow of the _Dawn Treader_ and ride out to the Lone Islands to once again walk barefoot on Felimath. But, probably, the thing she missed the most about Narnia was the Great Lion Aslan. She missed him dearly and longed to see his face, feel his fur, and hear his voice. She could still remember the moment when she stood at the edge of the world alongside her brother, Edmund, and cousin, Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and was told the heartbreaking news that she and Edmund would never return to Narnia. Eustace, however, got to return to Narnia a couple months later alongside his classmate, Jill Pole. Lucy could still remember when she first talked with Eustace over the phone about his recent adventure in Narnia. However, neither Eustace nor Jill had been to Narnia since.

As Lucy lay back down on her bed, she thought about all the things that had happened recently. The war had ended the previous year and things had begun to improve. Lucy lived with her parents and Edmund in a new home located in a small suburban sector of London. Peter was off at school whilst studying alongside Professor Digory Kirke, who had sadly fallen into a state of bankruptcy recently but was gradually getting some of his wealth back. Susan, meanwhile, was living in America and attending school as well. Susan often talked about how she had begun a relationship with a young American named Keith O'Donnell, who was the son of a soldier. Mr. and Mrs. Pevensie had met Keith before and said that he was a fine, young man worthy of Susan's attention. Lucy felt happy that Susan was having a productive stay over in America but Lucy could honestly say that it was obvious that Susan had pushed her days in Narnia behind her. Lucy always had a feeling that Susan truthfully preferred to be an adult on Earth rather than a queen in Narnia. Thankfully, Peter and Edmund hadn't forgotten about Narnia and often reflected back on the years they had spent ruling over that majestic country. Edmund once traveled out to visit Peter at Professor Kirke's house and the three of them had talked for hours on end about Narnia. Through Professor Kirke, Lucy befriended a friend of his named Polly Plummer. She was a kind woman who, like the Professor, had once traveled to Narnia many years previously, right after the turn of the century. Lucy built a strong friendship with her and currently knew her as Aunt Polly rather than Ms. Plummer. Eustace and Jill occasionally traveled to Aunt Polly's house with Lucy and the four of them would share countless stories of Narnia. Jill was probably had the most questions out of the four of them, probably due to her limited experience in the world of Narnia. Lucy was always happy to tell Jill a story of the Golden Age of Narnia and Jill was always glad to hear the tale of how Lucy and her siblings helped Caspian X ascend to the throne of Narnia following the defeat of the Telmarines. Yes, things were certainly good for the most part...and yet Lucy couldn't help but feel sad. She missed Narnia and, more importantly, she missed Aslan.

"Aslan...are you there?" she whispered. "Can you hear me?" There was no response and Lucy could only sigh with slight annoyance. It had been a long four years since her permanent departure from Narnia. Lucy rolled over on her side and looked up at the night sky through her bedroom window. The moon shone brightly but most of the stars in the sky were blotted out by slight light pollution. Lucy's eyes widened as a shooting star shot across the sky. "I guess I better make a wish." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I wish...I wish I could see Aslan again. I wish I could see Narnia again. Just once more. I wish I could just have one last adventure."

Lucy then smiled and opened her eyes again as the star flew off towards the night horizon. She then closed her eyes again and fell asleep.

It's debatable whether or not shooting stars actually hold the magical power of granting wishes, but one thing is for certain. Even though Lucy believed that her wish probably wouldn't come true, her call would be answered; for at that moment a multicolored ship filled with a few odd passengers was making its way straight for her world.


	2. A Day with Aunt Polly

Chapter 2: A Day with Aunt Polly

Lucy woke up the following morning to find herself alone in the house with Edmund. Edmund was downstairs cooking a few sausages on the stove.

"Morning," said Lucy as she walked into the kitchen. She was already fully dressed and ready to head out.

"Where are you off to today?" Edmund asked as he placed a plate of sausages and toast on the table. Lucy poured a glass of milk and sat down.

"I'm meeting with Eustace, Jill, and Aunt Polly today."

"Again? The four of you seem to like meeting a lot."

"We really do enjoy each other's company."

"And I see that you've decided to leave Peter and myself out of your little Narnia group."

"I never said the two of you were uninvited to join! And the Professor is allowed to come if he's interested."

"I'm just messing with you, Lu. Peter and I wouldn't be able to meet with you anyway."

"I can see why Peter and the Professor are busy, I mean with school and all. But what are _you_ busy with?"

"Driving of course!"

"But you won't be able to legally drive an automobile until next year. You're only sixteen, remember?"

"So? That hasn't seemed to stop you from taking the car for a drive with Mum occasionally."

"She's _teaching_ me! I'm not going out on Sunday drives or stuff like that!"

"Whatever you say, Lu. I agreed to meet Dad over by the library and we're going to continue our lessons."

"That's good. But you're always welcome over at Aunt Polly's." Lucy looked at the clock and stood up. "I better go! I've agreed to meet Eustace and Jill by the park! That's where Aunt Polly's picking us up!"

Lucy took another, big bite of sausage before grabbing her bag and running outside.

"But you've hardly touched your breakfast!" Edmund called.

"I'm grab a bite to eat with the others!" Lucy called back as she hopped onto her bicycle. Edmund sighed with an annoyed tone as Lucy rode off.

Lucy enjoyed riding her bike through the park, especially during the summer. Morning sunlight glimmered through the leaves as Lucy rode along the path. She was normally a careful bike rider, but that didn't stop her from getting distracted at times. She had begun daydreaming about her days riding through Narnia on her favorite horse, Ramona, when she nearly bumped into a man with a suit and top hat.

"Sorry!" Lucy said as she regained control of her bicycle.

"Careful, love!" chuckled the man. Lucy nodded back before continuing on her ride. She eventually came to a small clearing towards the edge of the park. A bike rack stood at the edge of the clearing. She rolled her bike over and locked it into place.

"Hey, Lucy!" called a familiar voice. Lucy turned to see Eustace and Jill running towards her. Eustace smiled as he asked, "How's it going?"

"Good!" Lucy replied as she hugged her cousin. She then gave Jill a quick, casual hug. "What have you two been up to?"

"Not much. The two of us have mostly spent our holidays moping about the neighborhoods," Jill replied.

"Why moping? You aren't depressed, are you?"

"No. Just bored," Eustace replied.

"Oh how I wish we were back in Narnia!" said Jill as she proceeded to spin around like a ballerina. "I wonder what old Puddleglum is up to."

"Probably remarking on how many ways building a campfire can go wrong."

"I wonder how Rilian has been doing as King of Narnia. He might have even found a queen of his own by now."

"It's possible, and maybe it's not possible."

"Don't even _dare _think about starting with your limericks, Scrubb! I hear enough of them at school!"

"I thought we were done with the surname nonsense, Pole!"

"Oh shut it!"

"Will you two stop bickering?" Lucy asked with a smile. "Honestly, you're fighting like obnoxious schoolchildren!"

"Oh come off it, Lu! I'm sure you've done the same thing with Edmund, Peter, and Susan."

Eustace choked when he said Susan's name. None of them really liked to mention Susan very often.

"Have you heard back from her recently?" Jill asked.

"Not for a while. I can only assume that's she busy with _Mr. Keith O'Donnell of Boston_," Lucy replied.

"I guess she mentions him a lot in her letters."

"All the time! It's always _Keith this_ or _Keith that_ or _I'm so happy that Keith bought me this_ or _Keith took me to the local park today_. She hardly ever asks what's happening on this side of the pond. She never even mentions Narnia. Whenever I ask questions involving Narnia, she pushes them aside to talk about the new rings she got from Keith's mother. I love her dearly but, _honestly_, I've never seen such an immature mature person!"

"I guess that's Susan in a nutshell nowadays," said Eustace.

"Why don't we change the subject?" Jill asked.

"Good idea."

"I wonder when Aunt Polly's coming. We arrived on time."

"Don't rush her, Jill! She _is_ 57 years old after all!"

"That hasn't stopped her from pushing herself occasionally."

"Too true."

"Hello!" called another familiar voice.

"There she is!" stated Lucy. Lucy, Eustace, and Jill walked to the edge of the clearing to greet their dear friend, Polly Plummer a.k.a. Aunt Polly.

"How are you all doing today?"

"Good!" chimed Lucy, Eustace, and Jill.

"Excellent! How are you all feeling in terms of hunger?"

"Quite famished to be honest. I skipped out on most of breakfast to meet the rest of you here. Pity because Edmund went through all the trouble of cooking me some sausage and toast," Lucy replied.

"We could eat," Jill said as she wrapped one of her arms around Eustace.

"Fantastic! Because I just recently found a small cafe out towards Surrey that is _to die for_!" Aunt Polly exclaimed.

"Sounds good," said Eustace with a smile.

"Good! The car's this way."

It didn't take long for Aunt Polly to drive Lucy, Eustace, and Jill to the cafe she was talking about. It was a small, red brick cafe with simple decorations and glistening windows. It looked like the type of place that didn't get much attention from mainstream traffic.

"Here we are!" said Aunt Polly.

"I'll get the door!" said Eustace. Eustace held the door open for Lucy, Jill, and Aunt Polly before walking into the cafe himself.

"Ms. Plummer!" bellowed a happy chef from behind the counter. "I see it didn't take long for you to return."

"Yes, Mr. Franks! I've brought along three of my friends who are in need of some food, immediately."

"All right then! Just seat yourselves and I'll be with you shortly!" Lucy, Eustace, Jill, and Aunt Polly found a table close to the window. Mr. Franks came by and gave them their menus as well as some glasses of water. "Just give me a holler when you're ready."

"No problem!"

Mr. Franks retreated back into the kitchen while the four customers carefully examined the menus.

"So what are you getting?" Jill asked Eustace.

"I'm not sure. What's this? Eggs and chips with a side of buttered toast? Sounds interesting," Eustace replied.

"Let's see here. French toast with all the trimmings?"

"That's what I got last time, Jill. It's _really_ delicious! I might have to get it again!" Aunt Polly exclaimed.

"Maybe. The hot cakes look appetizing. What about you, Lu?" Jill looked and realized that Lucy wasn't staring at her menu. She was staring out the window. "Lucy?"

"Yes?" she asked as she snapped back.

"Is something wrong?"

"What? Oh. No. Nothing's wrong." She opened her menu and eventually picked something at random. "Eggs, bacon, and biscuits with gravy sounds good for me."

"Bacon? I might be in a mood for meat this morning," said Eustace hungrily as he turned back to the menu. Lucy looked back out the window. Something felt off. She couldn't tell what it was but something just didn't feel right. Then she heard it.

"Lucy," said a faint voice. It was incredibly low pitched and hard to hear, but Lucy heard it nonetheless. "Lucy." Lucy was speechless. She couldn't say a word. "When you meet the boy with the key, you must go with him."

"Aslan?!" Lucy suddenly asked. The voice disappeared and Eustace, Jill, and Aunt Polly turned to Lucy.

"What was that, Lu?" Eustace asked.

"It was-" Lucy cut herself off. She didn't know if it really was Aslan's voice she had heard, let alone if she had even heard a voice at all. Could it had been her imagination? But it had sounded so real, so close, and so...powerful. Lucy shook her head and smiled. "It was nothing. My ears were playing tricks on me."

"Are you all right? You look like you've just seen a ghost," Jill questioned.

"Or heard one," Lucy whispered under her breath.

"What?" Aunt Polly asked.

"Nothing. Just thinking aloud."

"Okay. As long as you're okay-"

"Don't worry, Aunt Polly. I'm feeling fine."

"Okay then. Has everybody gotten their orders down?"

"I believe so," said Eustace.

"Okay. Mr. Franks! We're ready!"

Lucy, Eustace, Jill, and Aunt Polly left the cafe around an hour later, their stomachs stuffed.

"Thanks for bringing us here, Aunt Polly!" said Jill. "It was certainly worth it!"

"Thank you, Jill. It was no problem at all," Aunt Polly chuckled as she got back in the car. "So where off to next?"

"I hear they're showing _Here Comes the Sun_ again at the local theater," said Eustace.

"Oh I _love_ that picture! Can we go see it?" Jill asked. Lucy was all for seeing a film. She thought that it would be able to take her mind off the voice she had heard.

"I'd be fine with going to see it," she said.

"Sounds good! I'm glad I saved a lot of money through the war," said Aunt Polly as she started up the car.

The rest of the day flew by in a flash for Lucy. They went and saw _Here Comes the Sun_ and went to have lunch at another one of Aunt Polly's favorite restaurants afterwards. It wasn't until it was late in the afternoon when Lucy, Eustace, and Jill finally parted ways with Aunt Polly.

"We had a wonderful time today!" said Jill.

"I'm glad. Maybe we can have tea soon and talk more of Narnia," said Aunt Polly. "I'm looking forward to hearing the tale of the return of Prince Cor."

"I'll make sure to tell it next time," chuckled Lucy.

"Okay then! See you all later! Take care!"

Lucy, Eustace, and Jill waved goodbye as Aunt Polly drove away. Eustace stretched his arms and let out a loud yawn.

"Don't tell me you're tired, Eustace!" said Jill.

"It's been a long day. I'm beat," Eustace replied.

"You can't be! You promised me that we'd work on our holiday reading assignments together!"

"Today?"

"Yes! Today! I want to get it done and over with!"

"Come on, Jill! Can it wait for another day?"

"Knowing you, _another day_ probably means the day before the start of term. No, sir! We're finishing them _now_!"

Eustace turned to Lucy for help.

"Don't turn to me for safety! This is between you and Jill!" Lucy stated with a smile.

"Thanks for coming to my rescue, cousin!" Eustace said with a snarky grin. Jill grabbed onto Eustace's shirt collar.

"We'll see you later, Lucy. Mr. Scrubb and I have some work to take care of," said Jill.

"Okay. I'll see you two later then!"

Jill and Eustace waved goodbye as they walked off down one of the opposite paths. Lucy chuckled as she freed her bike from the rack and took off down one of the paths.

The park was empty now and the sky was beginning to turn a light orange. It would be dark in a couple hours or so.

"Mum will murder me if I'm home late again," said Lucy as she rode through the park. She suddenly began to have that feeling she had back at Mr. Franks's cafe. Something was wrong and she knew it. The lonely park suddenly had a feeling of creepiness to it. "What's with this feeling I have? Nothing's wrong!" Lucy fell silent as she continued to ride. "But, if nothing's wrong then why do I feel unsafe?" Something black suddenly ran across the path in front of Lucy. She nearly crashed her bike but managed to regain her balance. "What the hell was that?!"

That's when another black figure smashed into Lucy's side. She fell off her bike and fell onto a patch of grass next to the path. Her bike fell to the ground with a loud clang. Lucy was about to get up when she felt two, large hands grab onto her.

"What's going on here?! Let go of me!" Lucy ordered. She tried to get a look at her attacker but couldn't at the angle she was in. She was lifted into the air, pulled away from the path, and into the trees. Even though Lucy couldn't really see her attacker, she had learned how to observe something without the use of her eyes through her many years of attending hunting parties in Narnia. Her attacker was obviously wearing some sort of armor, for they let out a traditional _clang_ and _clunk_ with each step. Her attacker was also obviously not incredibly tall for she hadn't been lifted that high off the ground. She could also tell that there was more than one of them for she could hear other sets of footsteps around her. She eventually craned her neck enough to see the chest of her attacker. It was all dark blue except for an odd symbol in the middle of it. Lucy was able to identify the symbol as a black heart with a red outline and a red X running through it. "What a strange tattoo."

Lucy shook her head and realized that she had to find a way to escape. She quickly grabbed a stick off the ground and shoved it straight into her attacker's chest. Her attacker let go of her and she fell to the ground, and proceeded to quickly crawl away. She turned around to face her attacker and was bewildered by what she saw. It looked like a mix between a knight, a shadow, and an elf with claws. Lucy didn't know what she was looking at but she knew that it certainly wasn't something from her world. She then noticed that her strange attacker was joined by a group of smaller creatures that resembled that of living shadows.

"More of them?" Lucy choked. She tried to crawl away but the knight shadow grabbed her. Lucy suddenly found herself staring deep into the creature's heartless, yellow eyes. For a moment, she thought how funny it was to think that there was no heart beyond those eyes. Normally, people would say that eyes like these would be soulless. But Lucy thought otherwise. The first thought to come to her mind was that these creatures were heartless. They were not devoid of a soul, but of a heart. Lucy tried to wrap her mind around this concept when the knight shadow raised one of its claws and prepared to strike. Lucy, without any other options, screamed at the top of her lungs the first word that came to her mind. "ASLAN!"

Lucy's eyes widened as the claw came down.


	3. Sora, Donald, and Goofy

Chapter 3: Sora, Donald, and Goofy

Before the claw reached Lucy's face, something whizzed through the air and smashed straight into the creature's skull. Lucy fell to the ground as the creature stumbled back a bit, dazed and confused. Lucy looked and noticed that the object that had hit the creature was a circular shield. It was gray, blue, and yellow and had the black outline of what appeared to be a cartoon mouse's face imprinted in the middle.

"What on earth?" Lucy asked.

"Good shot, Goofy!" said a voice from the bushes. Lucy watched as a strange boy emerged from the trees. He had red, poofy shorts and large, yellow shoes. His hair was brown and incredibly spiky and his eyes were sharp and blue. His hands and feet looked a little bit bigger than a normal person's and in his hands he carried what looked like a giant key. The boy charged at the creature that had attacked Lucy and hit it with his key. With one hit, the creature disintegrated into dark mist and a single, shining heart flew up a few feet from where the creature had previously been before disappearing into thin air. "Got him!"

"Let me at 'em!" called another, wheezily voice from the bushes. Lucy turned and was surprised by what she saw. Charging towards the other shadows was what appeared to be an anthropomorphic duck. It had a blue hat and outfit on and, in its hands, it carried what appeared to be a staff with a wizard's hat on top of it. The duck aimed the staff at the shadows and two shadows were instantly struck by miniature bolts of lightning. They, like the knight shadow, disintegrated into black mist and released a glimmering heart that disappeared shortly after its release.

"Do you need some help, miss?" asked a third voice. Lucy looked up and nearly jumped with surprise. Standing over her was what Lucy could be identify as an anthropomorphic dog. He was wearing a green outfit with a brown hat and yellow pants. His hand was extending towards Lucy to help her off the ground. She awkwardly grabbed the dog's hand and allowed him to help her up. "There ya go!" Lucy wanted to say _thank you_ but found that she had no words to say at that moment. "Are you okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Lucy shook her head and rubbed her eyes. When she opened them, the dog was still there only he was now holding the shield that that had been thrown into the first creature.

"T...Thank you," Lucy managed to say.

"It was no problem at all! Oh! It looks like the others have already dealt with those nasty Heartless!"

The dog walked over to greet the boy and the duck.

"We sure showed them!" said the boy.

"You know it!" exclaimed the duck. The boy, the duck, and the dog turned back towards Lucy, who was still staring at them in shock. The duck approached her and stared at her. "Is she okay? Do you think they took her heart?"

"I don't think so," said the dog. "She said _thank you_ to me for helping her up."

Lucy shook her head again and once again rubbed her eyes. Her three saviors were still there.

"Oh my God. This is real. It's really real!" she exclaimed. She followed up her statement with a smile and a laugh. "By George, this is really happening!"

"Are you alright?" asked the boy.

"Oh yes! I'm great! It's just...you!"

"What about us?" asked the dog.

"You're all so...so..._abnormal_!"

"Hey!" said the duck as he crossed his arms. "What do you mean by that?!"

"Nothing! Well, I guess I _do_ mean something. But it's nothing negative, mind you! I'm really grateful that you've saved my life! It's just...let me guess. You're not from around here, are you? And I'm not talking about not being from this country. You're from another _world_, aren't you?!"

The boy, the duck, and the dog fell silent.

"Is it really that obvious?" the boy asked with a smirk.

"I thought getting new duds would allow us to blend in!" the dog sighed.

"But it's strange. I don't remember seeing anything like you in Narnia before," said Lucy.

"Narnia? What's that?" asked the duck.

"You mean you're not from Narnia then?"

"What's Narnia? Is it the world we're in right now?" asked the dog.

"Oh no! You're in the country of England on the planet Earth. Narnia's another world. It's a world that I've been to before."

"Wait, so you've traveled between worlds before?!" asked the boy.

"Yes. On several occasions."

"So where's your Gummi Ship?"

"Gummi Ship? What's that?"

"It's what we use to travel between worlds. You mean you don't have one? How did you travel to this Narnia in the first place without a Gummi Ship?"

"Magic. The first time I ended up there, I traveled through a wardrobe that linked our world to Narnia. The second time, I was called there by a magic horn. The third time, I fell through a painting of a ship at sea."

"Strange."

"Oh! Where are my manners? I haven't even introduced myself yet!"

"Neither have we!" exclaimed the dog.

"I'm Lucy. Lucy Pevensie."

"Name's Sora!" said the boy.

"Donald Duck!" said the duck.

"Goofy!" chuckled the dog. Lucy couldn't help but giggle.

"Fitting names!" she laughed. "So...the three of you travel between worlds?"

"Yeah," said Sora.

"Out to explore all the worlds you can find, huh?"

"Not exactly."

"Huh?"

"We're trying to find some friends of ours," said Goofy.

"By any chance, have you come across anyone named Riku or Kairi?" Sora asked.

"Or a mouse named Mickey?" Donald added. Lucy shook her head.

"Sorry. I haven't come across anyone with those names," Lucy replied. She then turned towards Donald and Goofy. "As for the mouse, you're the first of your kind that I've come across."

"Awe!" Donald sighed. "Another dead end!"

"Maybe not, Donald," said Sora. "Heartless are here, so that means that there must be a keyhole around here somewhere!"

"Heartless? Are you talking about the creatures that attacked me?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah. They're creatures whose hearts have been taken by the darkness."

"Creatures without hearts. That explains the name then." Lucy's eyes then fell upon the large key in Sora's hand. "What's that, by the way?"

"This? This is the Keyblade. It's a powerful weapon that can be used to defeat the Heartless."

"The Keyblade." Lucy suddenly flashed back to when she had heard Aslan's voice in the cafe.

"_When you meet the boy with the key, you must go with him_," he had said.

"Lucy?" Goofy asked. "Are you all right? You look like you're thinking of something."

"What? Oh. Nothing. I was just thinking of something trivial," she replied. "So what's this about a keyhole? Are these Heartless after it?"

"Yeah," said Sora. "Worlds, like us, have hearts. Each world has a keyhole that leads to its heart. If the Heartless find the keyhole, the world gets consumed by darkness."

"Is there any way to stop them?!"

"There is." Sora presented the Keyblade to Lucy. "This is the key. I can use the Keyblade to seal the keyhole and thus save the world from being consumed by the Heartless."

"I'm guessing that the keyhole is somewhere nearby, otherwise the Heartless wouldn't be gathering in this particular area of the world," said Goofy.

"We better find it quickly."

"Right, Sora! Onwards!" said Donald. They began walking away when Lucy raised her hand.

"Wait!" she called. They stopped in their tracks. Lucy pointed towards Donald and Goofy. "I hope not to sound rude but you two can't go walking around London!"

"Why not?" Goofy asked.

"Creatures like you don't exist in my world. You'll cause a panic. People will think you're some bizarre experiment set loose in England by the Nazis or something!"

"Nazis?" Donald asked.

"It's a long story. The point is, you two can't go walking around London."

"But we can't let Sora go wandering around on his own!"

"Hey! I'm perfectly capable of walking around a city on my own, thank you very much!" Sora snapped.

"He won't be alone," said Lucy. "I'll go with him."

"You will?" Goofy asked.

"It's the least I can do. You saved my life from those Heartless. Besides, you need someone like me who knows her way around the city. Honestly, a newcomer like you would get lost. No offense, Sora."

"Okay then. It looks like we're a team, Lucy Pevensie!" said Sora as he extended his hand. Lucy smiled and shook his hand. Lucy turned back to Donald and Goofy.

"You two better hide. We best not take the chance of someone stumbling across you two."

"We'll just go wait in the Gummi Ship then," said Donald.

"Good luck finding the keyhole, Sora!" said Goofy as he and Donald walked off into the trees.

"So where should we start looking?" Sora asked.

"Maybe a place of importance," chirped another voice.

"Who's there?!" asked Lucy as she jumped.

"Don't worry. It's only Jiminy," said Sora.

"Jiminy?"

Lucy watched as a small creature wearing a blue hat, a suit, and shoes and holding an umbrella emerged from the hood in Sora's outfit.

"Hi there!" said the creature.

"Who...what are you?" Lucy asked.

"Jiminy's the name! Jiminy Cricket!"

"Jiminy _Cricket_? You don't look much like a cricket."

"Well I am!" Jiminy pulled out a journal and began writing in it.

"What's that?"

"My journal. I'm in charge of chronicling Sora, Donald, and Goofy's travels. We've been to a lot of places so far, and all of them quite odd and unique places. I have to say that your world is probably the most...normal one we've visited so far."

"Really? So where exactly have you been to so far?"

"Oh lots of places! We've been to a jungle, a coliseum, a weird place called Wonderland, under the ocean-"

"Sorry to interrupt but don't we have a keyhole to find?!" Sora asked.

"Right! Sorry, Lucy. I can tell you more about our travels once the danger has passed!"

"All right then. So, Jiminy, where did you suggest where we look first?" Lucy asked.

"A place of importance. That's where the keyhole leading to the heart of a world is usually found."

"Know any places of importance, Lucy?" Sora asked.

"Oh of course! There's loads of important places here in London! If only we had a way to narrow things down," Lucy replied

"Why don't we start off with the most important place and work our way from there?"

"That sounds like a plan! Let's see...well there's 10 Downing Street, that's where the Prime Minister lives, and then there's the Palace of Westminister, which is where the House of Commons and the House of Lords meet."

"Do either of them have that tall clock in the distance?" Jiminy asked. Lucy and Sora looked and could just make out the outline of a tall clock in the distance, above the treeline of the park.

"That would be the Palace of Westminister."

"Then why not start there? It looks promising."

"It'll be difficult. We can't just walk in."

"I'm sure we'll find a way," said Sora as he spun the Keyblade.

"We _definitely_ won't get in with you swinging that weapon around!"

"No problem!"

The Keyblade suddenly vanished in a flash of light.

"Where did it go?" Lucy asked.

"I'm the Chosen Wielder of the Keyblade, as they say. I can summon it and make it disappear at will," Sora responded.

"That must come in handy quite often."

"You bet!"

"Well come on, Sora! The Palace of Westminister and the keyhole await us!"

"Right! Onwards!"


	4. Fight for the Keyhole

Chapter 4: Fight for the Keyhole

The sky continued to become more and more orange as Lucy and Sora walked towards the Palace of Westminister. Lucy would have normally ridden her bike there but there wasn't enough room on it for two passengers. They came to a stop on the edge of the River Thames. Lucy pointed towards the large building with the clock tower on the other side.

"There it is!" she said. "The Palace of Westminister! Just on the other side of the River Thames."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sora asked as he took off.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Lucy ran after Sora. Sora eventually slowed down and they began walking quietly across the Westminister Bridge. Lucy looked up at the orange sky. "Mum's going to kill me."

"What?"

"My Mum. She doesn't like for me to be home late."

"We'll try to make this quick then."

They walked in silence for a couple more minutes.

"So tell me, Sora. Are you, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy all from the same world?" Lucy asked.

"No. Donald and Goofy come from the same world but Jiminy and I come from different worlds from theirs," Sora replied.

"What's your world called?"

"I'm not sure about what my world's name is exactly. My home in that world is called Destiny Islands."

"It sounds like a wonderful place."

"It was."

"What do you mean by that?"

"My world was swallowed by the darkness. So was Jiminy's."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think Riku, Kairi, and I are the only ones to make it out. Everyone I knew, everyone I loved...they're all gone."

"I can relate to that."

"Huh?"

"Remember how I told you about my trips to Narnia?"

"Yes."

"Time in Narnia passes by differently from time in my world, this world. No matter how long I stay in Narnia, when I get back only a second has gone by. While I'm here, however, any amount of time can pass in Narnia. I stayed in Narnia for fifteen years during my first trip. I grew up into a fine 23-year-old Queen of Narnia. Then...I fell back through the wardrobe and was back to being an 8-year-old girl. A year later, I returned to Narnia only to discover that around 1300 years had passed in Narnia. Everyone I knew in that world, everyone I loved...they had all passed on."

"I guess we're not that different, Lucy."

"I guess not."

"So you were a queen?"

"Still am. Once a King or Queen of Narnia, always a king or queen. That's what Aslan says." Sora's face became still and his breathing became slower. Lucy looked at him oddly. "Sora?"

"That name. It sounded so...powerful."

"Aslan? Yes. He is a powerful creature."

"Who is he?"

"He's my only Narnian friend who's met me there every time I've ventured into that wonderful world. He's the true King of Narnia. A lion, he is."

"He's a lion?!"

"Yeah."

"Is he dangerous?"

"Of course he is. But he's good."

"You seem to respect him a lot. Heck, I kinda respect him just from hearing his name. I guess that means something."

"It had the same effect on my siblings and I during our first trip there."

"So others have gone with you?"

"Yes! I went with my siblings: Peter, Susan, and Edmund on my first two trips. My third trip, I went with Edmund and our cousin, Eustace. Eustace traveled to Narnia with his classmate, Jill Pole, afterwards and there are two elders named Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer who traveled there at the turn of the century. So far, we're the only people on this planet who know of Narnia's existence."

"So do you know when you're going to go back?"

"I'm never going to go back to Narnia."

"What?!"

"The last time I went to Narnia, I was ten years old. That was four years ago. We traveled to the edge of the Narnian world and that's when Aslan told Edmund and I that we would never return. Eustace and Jill could possibly return but they haven't been there since the autumn of 1942, so around four years ago."

"Why can't you return?"

"Aslan said that we had learned all that we could from that world and now it was time for us to live in our own. I respect his wishes and know what he said is true...but that doesn't stop me from missing Narnia. That doesn't stop me from missing him."

"You really want to see Narnia and this Aslan again, don't you?"

"Right now, more than anything."

"Well Donald, Goofy, Jiminy, and I have a ship that travels between worlds."

"The Gummi Ship, right? You mentioned it earlier."

"Yeah. So maybe, once we've sealed the keyhole in this world, we could take you to visit Narnia one last time."

"You mean it?!"

"I'd have to ask Donald and Goofy first."

Lucy grabbed onto Sora and hugged him.

"Thank you, Sora!" she cried. When she broke the hug, Lucy realized that they were now standing right in front of the Palace of Westminister. "Ah! Here we are! Let's find that keyhole!"

The interior of the Palace of Westminister was vast and large. British soldiers guarded many of the doors and political folk could be seen walking through the building and discussing certain, adult topics.

"Simply amazing! I'll have to make sure to keep note of this place!" Jiminy exclaimed.

"Get down, Jiminy!" Lucy hissed. "Nobody here can see you!"

Jiminy did what he was told and hid back inside Sora's hood.

"So do you have any ideas about where the keyhole would be located?" Sora asked.

"Possibly up in the clock tower. That's the most recognizable part of the palace," Lucy replied.

"Good place to start, if any."

"Halt!" ordered a stern voice. Lucy and Sora stopped in their place. Two guards approached them. "What are you children doing in here?"

"We're not causing trouble, if that's what you're thinking," Sora replied.

"We're just going up to the clock tower," Lucy said.

"This isn't a place for children! Please make your way back outside!" ordered one of the guards.

"We're not children! We're both fourteen years old!" Sora snapped.

"That counts as a child in my book. Now leave or I will have to escort you out!"

"Fine!"

Lucy and Sora began making their way back towards the entrance.

"Any ideas about how to get past those guards?" Jiminy whispered.

"Honestly, I have no clue," Lucy said as she shrugged her shoulders. Sora summoned the Keyblade.

"I think I have an idea," he said. Lucy gasped.

"You're not-" Before Lucy could finish her sentence, Sora pointed his Keyblade at the guards (whose backs were turned) and a giant lion burst out from the tip of the weapon. Lucy couldn't help but gasp again. It certainly was no Aslan but the lion still gave off a sense of power and respect. He had a long, red mane and glowing, yellow fur. He growled as he charged at the guards.

"LION!" the guards yelled as they ran to sound the alarm.

"Now where's the clock tower entrance?" Sora asked as he sent the Keyblade away.

"Uh...uh...this way!" Lucy choked. She grabbed onto Sora's sleeve and pulled him after her while the guards fended off the attacking lion.

It didn't take long for Lucy and Sora to come across the entrance to the clock tower. They began to quickly make their way up the stairs.

"So are you going to explain to me how exactly you summoned a lion from that Keyblade of yours?" Lucy asked with a smirk.

"Oh, right! His name's Simba. He's a lion from another world. His entire world has been swallowed by the darkness but his strong heart prevented him from being consumed. He was instead turned into a summon gem. I can use the combined power of the summon gem and the Keyblade to, well, summon Simba whenever I need him. I have other gems as well which allow me to summon others who refused to be swallowed by darkness," Sora replied.

"Fascinating!"

Lucy and Sora soon made it to the top of the clock tower. The bell known as Big Ben and the gears of the clock greeted them.

"That's a lot of gears and cogs," said Sora as he looked up.

"Well it _is_ a giant clock," said Lucy.

"Oh yeah!" Lucy and Sora began looking around the interior of the clock.

"So what do these keyholes look like exactly?"

"Well...they glow."

"Is that _all_ you can tell me?"

"What else can I say? They're keyholes that glow! They're also a little bit bigger than your normal keyhole."

"I guess that's a start of sorts." Lucy walked past a group of cogs and past a set of working equipment. She then came across the clock wall. Gears and cogs ran along the wall and the giant hands of the clock could be seen on the other side. Then she noticed something. A little ways up, towards the ceiling, Lucy could make out what appeared to be a large, glowing keyhole. "Sora! I think I've found it!"

Sora followed Lucy's voice and eventually met up with her. He looked up and smiled.

"Good eyes, Lucy! That's it!" he exclaimed. Then he let out a loud sigh. "Now how are we supposed to get up there?"

Lucy looked towards the ceiling and noticed a suspended walkway high above them. It was at even height with the keyhole.

"We can use that walkway!" she said as she pointed up. "There's a ladder over there that we can use!"

"Right! Let's go!" Suddenly, Lucy and Sora felt like they were no longer alone. A colony of yellow eyes began peering at them from the dark recesses of the clock room. "Heartless!"

Groups of Heartless began popping up all around them.

"Quick! Up to the keyhole!" Jiminy cried. Lucy and Sora nodded before running towards the ladder. The Heartless chased after them. Lucy was the first to start climbing the ladder. Sora summoned the Keyblade and took out several Heartless with one, swift movement of the weapon.

"Keep climbing! I'm right behind you, Lucy!" Sora said.

"Okay!" Lucy called back. Lucy could feel her heart beating out of her chest as she and Sora climbed towards the walkway above them. The Heartless were in hot pursuit. "Almost there!" Lucy quickly pulled herself up onto the walkway. Sora was right behind her. She reached out her hand and grabbed onto part of the Keyblade while Sora used his other hand to pull himself up the ladder. Suddenly, the Heartless began grabbing onto Sora's shoes. "Sora!"

"Get off!" Suddenly, the Heartless loosened Sora's feet and Sora began to fall. He quickly found himself dangling several feet above the ground. The only thing keeping him from falling was the fact that he was holding onto the Keyblade which was also being held onto by Lucy. "Pull me up!"

"I'm trying!" Lucy tried to pull Sora up to safety but Heartless were holding onto Sora's shoes like mad. Sora's grip began to loosen. "Don't let go!"

"It's not like I'm _willingly_ choosing to let go!"

Then Sora lost his grip on the Keyblade and fell.

"SORA!" Lucy cried. Luckily, the mountains of Heartless underneath Sora acted like a cushion as he fell to the ground below. Sora quickly got up and the Heartless began advancing towards him. Sora pointed his hand up at Lucy, specifically towards the Keyblade, but nothing happened.

"What?" he asked. The Heartless were getting close to him now. Lucy stood up and prepared to toss the Keyblade down.

"I'll toss it down to you!"

"No! Use the Keyblade to seal the keyhole!"

"How do I do that?"

"Just point the Keyblade at the keyhole and it'll do the rest!"

Sora broke into a run as the Heartless chased after him. Another group of Heartless was still climbing the ladder, and thus towards Lucy. Lucy gripped the Keyblade tightly in her right hand and ran along the walkway.

The suspended walkway was like a maze. Several parts led to dead ends and it was hard to determine which path led towards the keyhole. Heartless began appearing on the walkway in front of Lucy. Lucy swung the Keyblade at them and they all died the same way: disintegrating into clouds of black dust and releasing a shimmering heart in the process.

"Get out of my way!" Lucy ordered as she swung the Keyblade at another knight Heartless. She eventually found the pathway that led straight for the keyhole. She ran towards it but suddenly found her path blocked by a large Heartless. It was incredibly fat and had looked like a living bowling ball. "You want some, big fellow? Come and get it!" Lucy aimed the Keyblade and charged for the giant Heartless. She swung the Keyblade straight at its chest...but the weapon simply bounced off. "What?!" The giant Heartless patted its chest and then began charging towards Lucy. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

Lucy let out a yelp of pain as the Heartless ran straight into her. The Keyblade fell out of her hand and slid over towards the edge of the walkway. Lucy looked back and noticed that the Heartless was about to charge again. She began crawling her way over towards the Keyblade. The Heartless was getting closer now. She wrapped her hands around the hilt of the Keyblade. The Heartless was right on top of her now. She swung the Keyblade up and, while it bounced off the Heartless's belly again, it threw the Heartless off balance. Lucy held her breath as the Heartless flew over her head and rolled down the walkway like a bowling ball. She stood up. Her path to the keyhole was clear now.

"Hurry up, Lucy!" cried Sora from down below.

"I've got it!" Lucy called back. She began running towards the keyhole. The Heartless stood up and began charging after Lucy. Lucy's heart was practically beating out through her shirt. She pointed the Keyblade at the keyhole as she ran towards it. The tip of the Keyblade began to glow like a light bulb. Suddenly, a long beam of light shot out of the Keyblade and into the keyhole. A wave of light expanded from the keyhole. The light wave destroyed all of the Heartless in the room almost instantaneously. The keyhole then let out a locking sound before disappearing. "I did it! I did it, Sora! It's closed!"

"Good...job!" Lucy looked down to see that Sora was sitting on the ground and was panting heavily. She could only smile and giggle with delight. She made her way down to the floor below and handed the Keyblade back to Sora.

"Here you go."

"Thanks." He took the Keyblade and looked at it oddly. "That's strange."

"What is?"

"The Keyblade didn't come to me when I called it. When you had it, I couldn't call it back to me."

"So you can normally summon the Keyblade back to you if you're separated from it?"

"Yeah. It kind of comes with being the Chosen Wielder of the Keyblade and all."

"So why would it not come to you this time?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"We can figure it out on our way back to the Gummi Ship," said Jiminy. "We best get out of here before the guards suspect that the lion attack had something to do with us."

"Even though it did," Lucy sighed.

"Whatever," said Sora as he stood up. "We sealed the keyhole and saved your world. That's what matters."

"Right!" Lucy beckoned Sora towards the door. "Come on. We best not keep Donald and Goofy waiting much longer."


	5. Lucy Boards the Gummi Ship

Chapter 5: Lucy Boards the Gummi Ship

Sora led Lucy to a clearing deep within the park. Lucy looked throughout the clearing for any sign of a ship of sorts. Nothing was there.

"So where's this Gummi Ship of yours? I don't see anything here," said Lucy.

"Exactly," said Sora. Sora walked up to a particular space and rapped his knuckles against something invisible. "There it is."

Suddenly, a multicolored ship appeared out of thin air.

"Incredible!" Lucy exclaimed. A door in the side of the ship opened and out emerged Donald and Goofy. Donald ran up to Sora and hugged him tightly.

"Oh, Sora!" he exclaimed. "You're all right! Goofy was so worried about you!"

"Was it only Goofy who was worried about me?" Sora asked with a smirk. Donald let go of Sora.

"Yes...well...I was worried too but Goofy was even more worried!"

"I don't think _I_ was the one shaking, Donald," Goofy chuckled. Donald let out a heavy sigh. "So did ya find it? Did you seal the keyhole?"

"We sure did!" exclaimed Sora. "I wouldn't have done it without Lucy's help."

"It was nothing," said Lucy as she rubbed her shoulder.

"Another world safe from the Heartless!" cheered Donald. He began walking back towards the Gummi Ship. "And so our journey to find the King continues!"

"Donald...wait," said Sora. Donald stopped and turned around.

"Yes? What is it, Sora?" Sora took in a deep breath and sighed slowly. He looked back at Lucy and then turned to face Donald and Goofy.

"I...I was just wondering if...if Lucy could come with us."

"WHAT?!"

"I'm sorry, Sora, but you remember the rules. No meddling in the affairs of other worlds," said Goofy.

"Well that hasn't seemed to stop us before!" Sora snapped.

"Look, no offense to you Lucy, but we can't just go around bringing people along like this is some tour group!" Donald snapped back. "Why do you want to bring her anyway?"

"She really misses this world that she's been to before, Narnia. I promised her that I'd help her see it at least one more time."

"I'm sorry, Sora. But we can't bring her. We can't make any side stops. We need to find the King and your friends and stop the darkness. Remember?"

"Then let me help you find your King and friends!" Lucy said as she stepped forward. "I'll do everything in my power to help you on your journey! We can go to Narnia after the danger has passed! Please, Donald! Please, Goofy! I just want to see Narnia just one more time! I want to see...Aslan just once more."

Donald and Goofy fell silent upon the mention of Aslan's name. Goofy walked forward and patted Lucy on the shoulder.

"I wish we could take you, Lucy. But there's rules to this," he said.

"But-"

"No buts! Please, Lucy! We thank you for helping us here...but we can't bring you along," said Donald. He was obviously sad about having to say this. Lucy didn't hate Donald and Goofy for refusing to bring her. She understood completely...but that didn't lessen her desire to go with them one bit. Lucy looked towards the ground sadly. Donald turned to face Sora. "Come on, Sora. It's time we were on our way." Donald turned back to Lucy. "Goodbye, Lucy."

Donald couldn't bear to look Lucy in the face. He simply turned around and walked back into the Gummi Ship.

"Goodbye, Lucy," said Goofy as he followed Donald into the ship. Sora held his hand out. Lucy refused to shake it.

"I'm sorry, Lucy. I wish I could bring you...but I guess there are rules to follow," he said.

"Go, Sora. Go and...stop the darkness," she croaked. Sora and Lucy couldn't look each other in the eye. Sora simply turned around and walked back towards the ship.

"Goodbye, Lucy Pevensie," said Jiminy. Sora walked into the ship and closed the door.

For a moment, Lucy stood there in sadness. She wanted to cry. She had been so close to returning to Narnia, to seeing Aslan, to feeling like a Queen of Narnia again. Now, her one, and probably last, chance had been smashed. Lucy lifted her head as the Gummi Ship began to emit a loud noise. It was fading away. Fading away into the space between worlds. Then Lucy heard a soft click. She looked and noticed that the door leading into the Gummi Ship had been knocked open a bit by the motion of the ship. This was her chance. Should she take it? She looked around the park, at the orange sky, and at the ajar door as several thoughts rolled through her mind. She thought of her siblings, she thought of Eustace, Jill, and Aunt Polly, she thought of her parents, and she thought of the Professor. Then she thought of Sora, she thought of Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy, she thought of the Keyblade and the keyhole, she thought of the Heartless and the darkness, she thought of Narnia, and then she finally thought of Aslan. Then she broke into a run. She ran at full speed towards the fading Gummi Ship. She pulled open the door and jumped inside. She then shut the door behind her as the ship flew off through the fabric of space and time.

Lucy sat against the door of the Gummi Ship for a moment. She did it. She actually did it. She was leaving her world. Not by the call of Aslan or a magic horn but by stowing away on an inter-dimensional ship. She stood up. There was a small hallway in front of her that curved up to the left. A bathroom door stood immediately to the left of the door. She walked past the bathroom door and down the hallway. Upon turning around the bend, she realized that the hallway led straight into the control room. There were three chairs. Sora sat in the middle, Donald sat on the right, and Goofy sat on the left. Two monitors above the front window of the ship showed the faces of two chipmunks.

"Chip and Dale at your service!" said the chipmunks. "Happy flying!"

The monitors went blank and Donald sighed a bit. Lucy watched as the world outside of the ship changed from pitch black darkness to a light blue-green sea of stars and floating objects. Was this the space between worlds? Lucy had remembered the Professor and Aunt Polly mentioning to her about the Wood Between the Worlds. Perhaps there was more than thing that interconnected all of the worlds in the multiverse.

"I'm sorry, Sora," said Donald.

"It's all right, Donald. I understand. I just wish I could have kept my promise to her," Sora sighed. Suddenly, something large flew past the ship. The ship jerked a bit and Lucy fell down. She didn't realize that she yelped as she fell.

"What was that?" Goofy asked.

"It must have been Monstro or something," said Sora.

"Funny. I don't remember Monstro yelping like a young girl," said Jiminy. Lucy stood up to find Sora, Donald, and Goofy staring back at her.

"LUCY?!" they all gasped. Lucy blushed a bit and shuffled her shoes.

"Uh...hi," she said.

"What are you doing here?!" Donald snapped. "How did you get on the Gummi Ship?!"

"I'm sorry...I was so sad, I was so desperate, I took the first opportunity that I got. As the ship was taking off...the door became slightly ajar. I just ran through the ajar door and closed it behind me right before you departed."

"I've been meaning to fix that," said Goofy.

"Sora! Stop the ship! We have to take Lucy back!" said Donald.

"No! I'm already here! I can help you find your friends and fight the darkness! Honestly!" Lucy argued.

"I'm sure that's one reason why you're here...but that's not the main reason! The main reason you're here is to use us like a...like a taxi service and take you off to see Narnia and this Aslan fellow again! Well let me tell you something! We're _not_ a taxi service!" Lucy was on the verge of tears. Not because Donald was yelling at her or because she was being refused the chance to return to Narnia but because of her guilt. She knew, deep down, that what Donald was saying was true. Yes, she did want to help Sora find his friends and defeat the Heartless...but Narnia and Aslan had been mostly on her mind when she jumped through that door. It was a selfish act and she knew it.

"You're right, Donald," Lucy said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Sora! Turn this...what?"

"You're right. I was being selfish. Honestly, I _do_ want to help you all, but returning to Narnia and seeing Aslan again with your help was my main goal when I boarded this ship. Aslan would be ashamed of me. Oh! This is almost like when I was envious of Susan!" Sora stood up and faced Lucy. He approached her and then gave her a quick hug.

"Don't feel sad, Lucy. I know someone who has tried to see the worlds in a much darker way than you," he sighed.

"Really?" Lucy wiped a tear from her eye. "Who?"

"My friend, Riku."

Suddenly, the entire Gummi Ship shook violently.

"What was that?!" Goofy asked.

"It certainly wasn't Monstro!" Jiminy exclaimed.

"Look!" Donald yelled as he pointed towards the window. A giant pirate ship was flying straight for them.

"Is that a...pirate ship?" asked a surprised Lucy.

"It's heading straight for us!" Goofy yelped.

"Everybody take cover!" Sora ordered. The pirate ship collided with the Gummi Ship and everyone fell the the ground. The lights flickered and the sound of crunching metal echoed throughout the ship. The lights turned off and that's when Lucy lost consciousness.


	6. Welcome to Neverland

Chapter 6: Welcome to Neverland

Lucy woke up to find a pain ringing through her head. Her vision was temporarily blurred but she could tell that she was lying down on a hardwood surface.

"Lucy," called a faint, familiar voice. Lucy looked up but her vision was still blurred. For a moment, she thought she could see a great lion standing over her. "Lucy."

Lucy raised her arm and reached for the lion.

"A...Aslan?" she asked. Her vision cleared and, instead of a lion, she saw what appeared to be a golden fairy in a green dress flying above her. Sparks of golden dust fell on top of Lucy as the fairy flew above her. The fairy then flew back down through a nearby grate in the floor.

"Wait! Tinker Bell!" called an unknown voice. Lucy quickly realized that the voice had a British accent. She sat up and looked to see a girl a few years younger than herself in a blue dress kneeling by the floor grate. The girl looked back at Lucy and sighed. "Thank goodness! You're all right!"

"How...how long have I been unconscious?" Lucy asked.

"Ever since the pirates brought you in here."

"Pirates?" Lucy instantly flashed back to the last thing she had remembered. She had been in the Gummi Ship with Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy. They were going to take her back to London and then...the pirate ship. "I remember now. A large pirate ship flew at us. It smashed into us and that's the last thing I remember." Lucy looked around the room and realized that she was in a ship cabin, it looked an awful lot like the room Eustace had slept in on the _Dawn Treader_. "Am...am I in the pirate ship now?"

"Yes. This is Captain Hook's ship. He flew his ship down to my home in London and kidnapped me. I do hope Peter comes around soon to save me." The girl sighed and looked at Lucy. "Oh! Where are my manners? I'm Wendy Darling. And you are?"

"Lucy. Lucy Pevensie." Lucy fell silent for a few seconds. "So, you're from London?"

"Yes. Are you from London too?"

"I am."

"I could tell from your accent that you were at least from England. It's nice to have someone else from my world here for a change."

"Are...are we in another world?"

"Yes. We're in Neverland. That's where Captain Hook and Peter are from."

"Peter? Peter who?"

"Peter Pan. He's the leader of the Lost Boys...and my close friend." Lucy let out a sigh.

"That's funny because I have a brother named Peter."

"Really? How odd." The two girls giggled before falling silent again. Lucy then suddenly thought back to Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy.

"Wendy, by chance have you seen a boy around my age here? He has spiky hair and red shorts. Or have you seen a talking duck, a talking dog, or a talking cricket?"

"No. I've seen nothing of the sort."

"Oh. I hope they're okay. They were with me when this Captain Hook attacked us."

"If they're on board, they're probably below deck. That's where Hook puts all of his male prisoners."

"Oh...so what was with that fairy?"

"That's Tinker Bell. She's a friend of Peter's. She's incredibly jealous of me though."

"She's _jealous_ of you?"

"Yes. Tinker Bell has feelings for Peter and I think she believes that Peter has feelings for me. I don't think so. Sometimes I think he sees me as just a friend."

"Do _you_ have feelings for him?"

"I don't know. Peter wants me to stay here in Neverland with him forever, so that we can remain friends and never grow old."

"Never grow old?"

"That's the power of this world. In Neverland, you never age."

"I guess that explains the name."

"But I simply _can't_ stay here! I have two younger brothers waiting for me back in London. I can't leave them behind!"

Lucy thought of Peter, Susan, and Edmund. Had she left them behind by boarding the Gummi Ship?

"I see that you're awake, Lucy," said a cold voice. Wendy jumped and ran over to the opposite wall. Lucy turned around to find a boy standing in the doorway. He looked to be around a year older than her. He had white hair and sharp, blue eyes. He wore a yellow shirt and baggy, blue pants. In his arms, he held a girl with a white and pink outfit and dark purple hair.

"Who are you?" Lucy asked as she stood up.

"It figures that you don't know who I am. I guess Sora has decided to forget all about his old friends."

"You know Sora?" Lucy then flashed back to Sora talking about his lost friends. "Wait a moment. Are...are you Riku? And is that girl in your arms Kairi?"

"Well, it looks like Sora _has_ told you about us. I'm actually kind of impressed." Lucy didn't like Riku much. To her, he came off as incredibly blunt and cold.

"This is great! Sora will be so happy to see that you're all right!"

"Heh. Not exactly."

"Huh?" Riku presented Kairi to Lucy.

"Do you notice anything peculiar about her?"

"Is she asleep or something?"

"I guess you could say that. She's lost her heart to the darkness."

"What?"

"Yes. While Sora was off goofing around and making new friends, I actually found her. Now the job of finding her heart falls upon my shoulders."

"What's with you? Sora's your _friend_! Why are you talking about him like this?"

"He doesn't seem to care about Kairi or me anymore so why should I care about him? He's already replaced us with his new friends."

"How can you say that?! Sora's main goal is to find you and Kairi! He told me so when we first met! I haven't known Sora for very long, Riku, but I can tell that he doesn't abandon, let alone forget about, his friends!"

Riku shrugged his shoulders as he placed Kairi next to the floor grate.

"Then why did he go and replace us?"

"What? He hasn't replaced you! He's just found new friends! Is that wrong?" Lucy suddenly noticed something dark flash in Riku's eyes. She then thought back to how Sora had mentioned Riku using a dark way to see the worlds. "The darkness...it's inside of you. You're becoming like the Heartless!"

Suddenly, a hand came out of nowhere and slapped Lucy across the face. Lucy groaned with pain and Wendy yelped. Riku then grabbed Lucy by the shirt collar and stared straight into her eyes.

"You think you know Sora so well but you don't! You think you can figure me out instantly but you can't! I am _not_ like the Heartless! I control them!" he snapped.

"That makes no difference!" Lucy and Riku stared angrily into each other's eyes.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with here."

"No. It's _you_ who has no idea what they're dealing with. I'm Queen Lucy the Valiant of Narnia and if you have any plans on hurting Sora and the others then you'll have to deal with me!" Riku pushed Lucy to the ground.

"Whatever. We won't be landing for a while so you better make yourself comfortable." Riku then turned around and walked out of the room, closing and locking the door behind him.

"What a brute! I can't believe Sora was once friends with _him_ of all people!" Lucy scoffed. Lucy and Wendy then turned their attention to Kairi. Her eyes were blank and her face was emotionless. She was breathing slightly so it was obvious that she was still alive.

"I wonder what it's like...to not have a heart," said Wendy. Lucy approached Kairi and touched her hand. It was colder than ice.

"I don't know and I don't think I ever want to find out," she replied.


	7. The Knife and the Cordial

Chapter 7: The Knife and the Cordial

Lucy and Wendy remained silent for at least an hour. The ship groaned around them and the sound of pirates and Heartless walking could be heard through the door. Kairi remained in her comatose state. Lucy wondered if Sora had learned of Kairi's fate yet. Lucy could only feel sorry for Sora. He was so eager to find his friends and what was he going to find? He was going to find that one of his friends hates him for completely idiotic reasons and that his other friend has lost their heart to the darkness. Wendy hadn't been up to talking since the arrival of Kairi. Lucy didn't feel like talking much either. The two girls instead sat in silence. This at least gave Lucy some time to reflect on what was going on.

So she was in another world apart from her own and apart from Narnia. This was definitely a first. She couldn't help but think back to her reasonings for jumping on board the Gummi Ship. For a while, she had thought that she knew it was for selfish reasons...but now she wasn't so sure. Returning to Narnia and seeing Aslan again honestly had been her main goals but then she thought about what she wanted the most out of the two. It was no question. She wanted to see Aslan more than she wanted to return to Narnia. That's when her memory of the cafe returned to her.

"When you meet the boy with the key, you must go with him," she had heard Aslan say. She was positive by this point that Aslan was speaking to her...but what did he want her to do? Had Aslan really wanted her to go with Sora? Could that had been a driving factor behind her jumping on board the Gummi Ship? Lucy rubbed her temple as she thought about Aslan's message more carefully. What had Aslan truly meant? If there was one thing she knew about Aslan, it was that he was never completely straight forward in his orders for the most part. The signs he told to Jill to aid her and Eustace in their search for Prince Rilian were a prime example of this. Had Aslan really meant to convince Lucy to travel with Aslan? Could he had just meant for her to help Sora seal the keyhole in her own world? Lucy rubbed her temple again. It was never easy trying to determine Aslan's true messages. If there was another thing that she had learned about Aslan, it was that he sure had a habit of being annoyingly and respectfully cryptic.

"Are you alright, Lucy?" Wendy asked. Lucy turned to face her fellow cellmate and nodded.

"I'm fine," Lucy replied.

"That's good to hear. You look like you're trying to figure out a puzzle."

"I guess you could say that I am." Lucy chuckled. She then, for whatever reason, began examining Wendy more closely. She was dressed oddly. Her blue dress was simple and her hair was fixed in a hairstyle that Lucy didn't normally see amongst girls around Wendy's age. "Wendy, how old are you?"

"I'm twelve, going on thirteen. My birthday's in a couple weeks. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. I've just never seen girls your age dress their hair up like you do."

"How can that be? This is a normal hairstyle for girls my age. I'll admit that mine is rather old-fashioned, so to speak. Mother always likes to dress my hair up like this. I'm always telling her that it's _1913_ and not _1893_ but she never listens." Lucy fell silent. Wendy looked at her oddly. "What's wrong, Lucy? Did I say something wrong?"

"Wendy, what year is it in England?"

"Don't you know that? I just said it! It's 1913, of course!" Lucy continued to stare at Wendy. It all slowly began to make sense. Wendy's odd choice of clothing, her somewhat more well-taught accent, her old-fashioned hairstyle. Whatever England Wendy was from, it definitely wasn't the same as Lucy's. It was still England, only it was an England that was 33 years behind her own. "Will you stop gawking at me? It's getting rather annoying."

"Am I? I'm sorry! It's just...I don't think we're from the same England."

"What are you talking about?"

"You just said that the year is 1913 in England."

"Yes, and it is."

"Not for me. In the England where I come from, the year is 1946. Not 1913." Wendy fell silent. She cocked her head again and examined Lucy.

"I guess that _would_ explain your clothing. Your hair seems a bit looser for a girl around your age and you definitely have a somewhat different accent than mine. It sounds less prim and proper. Now I'm not saying you sound stupid or something along those lines! No! I'm just saying that you definitely sound different."

"You're taking this rather well."

"I've flown through the sky in a golden pirate ship, been rescued by a boy in green, been beaten by fairies and mermaids, have danced with indians, have fought pirates, and have traveled to another world through a star. Learning that you're from an England that's over three decades ahead of mine isn't that much of mind-turner."

"Funny. I've fought a war, seen my hometown get bombed, ridden on top of a lion, been summoned by a magic horn, fallen through a painting, ridden to the end of the world, fought alongside talking animals, grown up into a woman only to return to being a child again, and have turned one-legged, invisible islanders visible again with the help of a magician's book, and the idea of you coming from a different England from mine fascinates me."

"I guess a lot has changed between 1913 and 1946."

"I guess so." The two girls couldn't help but smile and laugh. Suddenly, they heard the sound of footsteps from below them. A golden light shone through the floor grate.

"What is it, Tink?" asked an unfamiliar voice. While Lucy didn't recognize the voice, Wendy seemed to recognize it immediately. She stood up and walked over to the grate.

"Peter? Peter Pan?" she asked as she knelt down. Lucy knelt down next to the grate. Right below the grate was a boy wearing a green hat and a green outfit. He looked to be around Wendy's age and he also appeared to be levitating off the ground.

"Wendy!" exclaimed Peter Pan. Lucy looked and realized that Peter wasn't alone. He was joined by none other than Sora, Donald, and Goofy who were standing on the ground far beneath Peter.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Lucy!" said Sora.

"Don't forget about me!" called the voice of Jiminy Cricket.

"Of course I wouldn't forget about you, Jiminy," Lucy chuckled.

"Boy are we glad to see you!" called Donald.

"We thought something terrible must have happened to ya!" said Goofy.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Sora, listen. Your friend, Riku, is on the ship!" said Lucy. Sora let out a sigh.

"Yeah. I know," he replied.

"So you've come across him already?"

"Yeah. He dumped us below deck."

"So do you know about Kairi then?"

"I know that she's here. Do you know where she is, by any chance?"

"She...she's up here with us."

"She is?! Kairi! Kairi! Can you hear me?!"

Lucy turned to face Kairi. She was sitting just on the edge of the grate. For a moment, Lucy could swear that she saw Kairi's hand jerk at the sound of Sora's voice.

"She's asleep," Wendy lied. "Riku put her in here and she hasn't budged an inch since."

"Why?! Is something wrong with her?" Sora asked. Wendy refused to answer. Sora turned to look up at Lucy. "Lucy...is something wrong with her?"

"I...I don't know," Lucy lied.

"Lucy Pevensie, don't lie to me! Is something wrong with Kairi?!"

"She-"

"Wait a minute here!" Peter interrupted. He flew over towards Lucy. "You're name's Lucy _Pevensie_?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I have something for you. Well, two things actually." Peter reached into his pocket and pulled out two objects. One was a knife contained inside a red sheath and the other was a small bottle filled to the brim with a red liquid.

"Is that...is that _my_ dagger and cordial?!"

"Yeah! Some strange fellow gave these to me and told me to give them to Lucy Pevensie. Here you go then." Peter handed the knife and the cordial through the holes in the grate and Lucy held onto them tightly. She couldn't believe she was holding onto her knife and cordial once again. Just holding the items made her feel like she was back in Narnia again.

"But who was this _fellow_ and how did he get them? Furthermore, how is my cordial full now? It was almost half-empty the last time I saw it."

"Don't ask me. All I know is that he wanted me to deliver those to you. It's almost as if he knew that I'd run into you. Weird, huh?"

Suddenly, footsteps began echoing from outside the door.

"Peter! I think the pirates are coming!" Wendy cried.

"Pirates?! We'll be right up there!"

"Lucy! You didn't answer my question about Kairi!" Sora called. Suddenly, one of Kairi's arms fell onto the grate. Both Lucy and Wendy jumped.

"Did she just move?!" Wendy asked. Sora reached his hand up towards Kairi.

"Kairi!" Kairi's hand moved slightly. "Kairi! You can hear me!"

Suddenly, the door burst open and in walked two large pirates. One pirate grabbed Kairi and slumped her over his shoulder while the other grabbed Lucy and Wendy and dragged them out of the room. Wendy let out a shriek as the pirate grabbed her.

As Lucy was pulled out of the room she could hear Peter saying to the others, "Hey, let's get up there!"

Lucy wanted to pull her knife out and help get her, Wendy, and Kairi away from the guards when a familiar, faint voice appeared in her mind.

"Lucy...wait," said the voice. "Now is not the time."

The voice faded away and Lucy swallowed hard. She placed her free hand in her pocket and grasped her knife tightly. Her cordial was packed safely in her other pocket. She let out a sigh as the pirates led her and Wendy down the hallway. She knew that now wasn't the time to act...but she felt that time would be coming up pretty soon.


	8. Riku's Betrayal

Chapter 8: Riku's Betrayal

The pirates eventually brought Lucy, Wendy, and Kairi to where they needed to be. It was Captain Hook's study, which was located in the very back of the ship at deck level. Riku was waiting for them.

"Took you long enough to get here," Riku said coldly to the pirates. The pirates grunted annoyingly as they let the three girls go. "You can go now. I can take things from here." The pirates shrugged their shoulders and walked back below deck. Riku turned his attention towards Lucy and Wendy. "Well what do ya know? It turns out you're _not_ one of the Princesses after all, Wendy."

"One of the Princesses? What are you talking about?" Wendy asked.

"Do you honestly think Hook went through all the trouble of kidnapping you just to settle an old score with Peter Pan?"

"It was _you_! You're the one who had him kidnap me!"

"I guess you could say that. Maleficent's the one who ordered me to have you captured. We had to see if you were one of the Princesses. It turns out that you're not so you're just dead weight now."

"Why are you doing this, Riku?" Lucy asked suddenly. "Why are you working alongside the Heartless? Why have you betrayed Sora, your _friend_?"

Riku remained silent as he turned from Lucy to Kairi.

"Why else? For her, of course."

"Kairi?"

"Do you honestly think that Sora was the only one who cared for her? Of course, it looks like I'm the only one who cares now."

"Sora _still_ cares about her!"

"How do _you_ know what Sora cares about?! You've only just met him!"

"I could see it in his eyes, Riku. When he talked about finding you and Kairi. I could see the confusion and the sadness in his eyes. Sora still cares about Kairi...and he cares about you too. He wants his friends back."

"He had his chance to prove himself as a true friend. Needless to say, he failed. _I'm_ the one who found Kairi. _I'm_ the one who willingly sacrificed everything. _I'm_ the one who's going to save her heart from the darkness. Finding the Seven Princesses of Heart, controlling the Heartless, and working alongside Maleficent are all just part of the journey I must take to save her." Riku bent down and picked up Kairi. "I'll let Hook decide the fate of Sora, you two, and the others. I have a friend to save."

"Give her back!" Wendy cried as she ran forward. Wendy tried to punch Riku but he dodged the attacks. He then punched Wendy straight in the face, sending her flying over into a nearby wall which resulted in her losing consciousness. This was it. Lucy reached into her pocket and unsheathed her knife. Riku looked at the knife and laughed.

"Do you _honestly_ think you can take me on with such a pathetic weapon?"

"You'd be surprised with the battles I've won with this. Father Christmas himself gave me this and I intend to use it to save my friends and the friends of my friends from the clutches of evil," Lucy stated as she aimed the knife at Riku. "As far as I'm concerned, it appears that you're working for the wrong side."

"I have no time for this. Maleficent is waiting for me. I'll let Hook deal with you." Riku began backing away towards the door.

"Face me you coward!" Suddenly, the door leading below deck burst open and Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Peter entered the room. "Sora!"

"Riku! Wait!" Sora cried. Just then, a dark shadow flew under the door and popped up in front of Sora and Lucy. It looked like a shadow clone of Sora himself. Riku then disappeared through the door with Kairi in his arms. Shadow Sora made his move. He brought down his Shadow Keyblade on Sora. Sora dodged the attack. Lucy thrusted her knife forward through Shadow Sora's arm. Shadow Sora turned to Lucy and kicked her hard in the stomach, sending her flying back. Sora summoned the Keyblade and charged at his dark self. Peter looked over and noticed the unconscious Wendy.

"Wendy!" he exclaimed as he glided over to her. Meanwhile, Goofy helped Lucy up.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Lucy replied. "Come on. Let's help Sora deal with his dark double."

Lucy, Sora, Donald, and Goofy cornered the Shadow Sora in a corner. Suddenly, a group of pirate Heartless appeared before them.

"We'll take care of the Heartless!" said Donald as he pointed towards himself and Goofy. "You two take care of Dark Sora!"

"Sounds like a plan!" said Sora. The Heartless proceeded to follow Donald and Goofy while Lucy and Sora faced off against Shadow Sora. Shadow Sora swung his Keyblade at Lucy and caught the edge of her dress. Sora retaliated and made a successful hit to Dark Sora's leg. Lucy then charged and got in three successful hits with her knife. "Hey, you're pretty good with that!"

"Years of practice!" Lucy boasted. "Look out!" Sora used his own Keyblade as a shield as Shadow Sora brought his Keyblade down on Sora. Sora threw his dark twin off balance and got in a few more hits. Lucy charged forward and swung her knife violently at the Dark Sora. Sora the shadow tried to take out Lucy's legs but the young queen jumped over the moving Keyblade and jabbed her knife straight into Dark Sora's neck. A geyser of black smoke shot out of the wound and Dark Sora let out a frightening scream. He then used his hands to knock Lucy back. He then pulled the knife out and chucked it over to a nearby wall, where it got lodged in the wood. Lucy ran over to retrieve her knife while Sora continued to battle his twin. Donald, Goofy, and Peter were trying their best to protect the unconscious Wendy from the Heartless. Even Tinker Bell was participating in the fight. Lucy grabbed onto her knife and tried to yank it out of the wall. "Come on! Come loose already!"

"Lucy! I could use some help over here!" called Sora as he blocked another one of his twin's attacks.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Lucy called back. A Heartless tried to sneak up on Lucy but she turned around and kicked it straight in the face. She looked back to see that Sora was slowly being overpowered by his dark double. She looked back and began pulling on the knife with all her strength. Sora and Dark Sora's Keyblades met with a clang. Dark Sora was pushing his Keyblade closer and closer to Sora's face. Sora was losing his grip on the Keyblade. "No you don't!" Lucy finally managed to pull the knife out of the wall. The knife began to glow with an odd, violet color but Lucy didn't pay much attention to it. She ran towards Dark Sora as fast as she could. She could feel the knife growing heavier with every step she took and she could see it growing longer. By the time she reached Dark Sora, it was a full-fledged sword. Lucy raised her sword and brought it straight down into Dark Sora's chest. The Shadow Sora let out a scream of pain as blasts of violet light began puncturing holes in its dark body. "Got you!"

There was a massive blast of dark smoke and Shadow Sora was no more. Lucy and Sora were knocked back by the blast and all of the Heartless surrounding Donald, Goofy, and Peter suddenly disappeared. Donald and Goofy couldn't help but cheer.

"We did it!" Donald cheered. Lucy sat up and examined her new sword. It had a sleek, silver blade and a red and violet hilt. The face of a lion was imprinted in the blade. Lucy suddenly noticed that her knife sheath had fallen out of her pocket. She watched as it slowly grew into a larger, sword sheath, equipped with a red belt. Lucy stood up and picked up the sheath. She wrapped it around her waste and placed her sword in the sheath.

"Now I feel like Peter," she said.

"Like me?" Peter asked.

"Not you! I have a brother named Peter."

"Ah. He must be a good looking fellow then." Lucy couldn't help but chuckle.

"That was some good fighting. Thanks for having my back!" said Sora as he stood up.

"It was no problem. Come on. We better catch Riku before he leaves!"

"Right!" said Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Peter, meanwhile, walked over to Wendy and picked her up.

"I'm afraid that you guys are on your own from here," he said.

"Where are you off to?!" Donald asked.

"I've got to take Wendy home. She's in no shape to remain here and I can't leave her here to be found by pirates or, worse, by anymore Heartless."

"You go on ahead. We'll take care of Riku and Hook," said Sora.

"Right. Catch ya later!"

Peter then opened a nearby window and flew outside with Wendy in his arms. An annoyed Tinker Bell zoomed after him.

"He's quite a character. Did you guys spend all of your time below deck with him?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah. He proved to be very useful in helping us get around," Goofy replied.

"Come on, guys! We can catch up later! Right now, Riku's got Kairi and I won't rest until she's safe!" Sora said.

"And Riku says that you don't care about her anymore," said Lucy as she rolled her eyes at the thought of the white-haired teen. Sora remained silent as he turned towards the door that led out to the main deck of Captain Hook's ship.

"Come on," he said. "Let's finish this."


	9. Hook and Flight

Chapter 9: Hook and Flight

Captain Hook was waiting for them outside with a militia of Heartless alongside him. This was Lucy's first encounter with the pirate captain. Lucy didn't know whether to feel intimidated or humored by the captain. He certainly had a menacing presence, especially with the fact that one of his hands was a metal hook, but his outward appearance and stereotypical pirate clothing was enough to make Lucy crack a smile.

"What's so funny, girl?!" Captain Hook snarled.

"Oh...nothing," Lucy lied. She gripped the hilt of her new sword tightly. She was still confused about her knife changing into a sword but she felt that she should wait until the danger had passed to figure out the answer.

"Where's Riku?!" Sora asked as he summoned the Keyblade.

"Quite a codfish, that Riku," teased Hook. "Running off with that girl without even saying goodbye."

"Run of where? Tell me, where did he go?!"

"To the ruins of Hollow Bastion, where Maleficent resides." Lucy wanted to know more of this mysterious Maleficent but she figured that she find out more eventually. "But you won't be going there." Suddenly, Hook presented a small cage to them. Inside the cage was none other than Tinker Bell. "Unless you intend to leave your little pixie friend behind?"

"Tinker Bell?!" asked a shocked Donald.

"But how?!" Goofy asked.

"The Heartless managed to capture this obnoxious pixie while she was trying to follow Peter Pan. It's a shame that he abandoned her, but at least now I have some leverage of me own. Now I suggest putting that Keyblade of yours away before _someone_ gets hurt." The Keyblade disappeared with a flash of light. Lucy held the hilt of her sword with an even tighter grip. The Heartless began to surround them. "Hand over the Keyblade and I'll spare you'll lives! Be glad I'm merciful, unlike the Heartless."

"Sora! You can't give him the Keyblade!" Lucy whispered.

"I know...but I can't let you, Donald, and Goofy lose your lives over the Keyblade!" Sora whispered back.

"So which will it be? The Keyblade, or the plank?!" Hook asked. Just then, an odd ticking sound began emanating from the water down below.

"What's that noise?" Donald asked. Hook began to shake as he looked over the side of the ship. Floating in the water down below was crocodile, who was looking up at Hook hungrily.

"Is...is that crocodile making a ticking sound?" Lucy asked.

"I think it is," said Goofy. Hook backed away from the edge of the ship. "I think Hook's afraid of it!"

"It's him! The crocodile that took me hand!" he exclaimed. "Oh, Smee! He's after me other hand! I can't stay here! Go away! Oh, I can't stand the sight of him!" Hook then handed the cage containing Tinker Bell to Smee, a plump pirate in a striped shirt. Hook quickly made his way back to the study. "Smee, you take care of them!"

Hook then disappeared through the study door.

"Who knew a pirate captain would be afraid of a silly, old crocodile?" Lucy asked with a grin.

"Heartless! Lead the prisoners to the plank!" Smee ordered. One of the Heartless grabbed Sora and began pulling him towards the plank.

"Sora!" Lucy unsheathed her sword.

"No, Lucy! They've still got Tinker Bell!" Sora warned. Lucy turned back towards the frightened, trapped fairy. She didn't know Tinker Bell as well as the others but she still wouldn't risk her life. Lucy grudgingly sheathed her sword as the Heartless pushed Sora onto the plank. Sora backed up to the edge. The crocodile was down below. It's mouth was open, ready for a new meal to jump inside of it.

"It can't end like this!" Lucy exclaimed. She turned back to Donald and Goofy. "Can it?"

"Not unless Sora's learned to fly by now," croaked a nervous Donald.

"Learned to fly?" Lucy turned back towards Sora to see that he appeared to be thinking of something. He then closed his eyes and jumped off the plank. "SORA!"

Sora fell towards the crocodile's open mouth. Then, at the last second, Sora flew away from the crocodile and up into the air.

"He did it! Sora did it!" Goofy cheered. Lucy looked on in amazement.

"How...how is that possible?" she asked.

"Fairy dust!" Donald exclaimed. Lucy suddenly thought back to when Tinker Bell had accidentally showered golden dust on her when she was recovering from Hook's attack on the Gummi Ship. Did she have the ability to fly as well?

"Heartless, get them!" Smee ordered. The Heartless charged for them. Lucy unsheathed her sword while Donald and Goofy pulled out their staff and shield respectively.

"I'll get Tinker Bell!" said Lucy as she ran forward. As she ran towards the Heartless, the only word in her mind was _fly_. Then she took off. She flew over the Heartless and towards Smee, who was still holding Tinker Bell's cage. Smee ducked and continued to hold onto Tinker Bell.

"I've got to tell the Captain!" Smee said to himself.

"Not so fast!" called a familiar voice. Lucy looked up just in time to see Peter Pan fly down and snatch Tinker Bell's cage out of Smee's hands. Smee ran away as Peter let Tinker Bell go free.

"Thanks, Peter," said Sora as he landed.

"Hey, don't mention it. You didn't think that I'd really leave you and Tink behind, did ya?"

"G...Get them!" Smee yelled at the Heartless as he ran below deck. The Heartless charged for them.

"Take that!" Donald yelled as he sent a blast of fire at the Heartless. Three Heartless disappeared in a burst of fire. Lucy and Goofy faced off against one set of Heartless while Sora, Donald, and Peter faced off against another. Lucy brought her sword down on one Heartless as another began to bear down on her.

"Look out!" Goofy warned. Lucy ducked as Goofy tossed his shield at the Heartless, wiping it out.

"Thanks, Goofy!" said Lucy. A group of flying Heartless began shooting projectiles from high above them. Lucy took towards the sky and was followed by Sora and Peter. The three aerial fliers made quick work of the Heartless. A giant Heartless that looked like a bowling ball appeared on deck beneath them. "Not _another_ one of those!"

Goofy distracted the giant Heartless with his shield while Donald circled around and shot shards of ice at it. The Heartless was soon defeated.

Within moments, all of the Heartless on deck had been wiped out.

"Great job, everyone!" said Peter.

"Thanks for coming back!" said Donald.

"Is Wendy okay?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah. I left her on top of the clock tower in London for the time being. I'll go back to return her home once we're done here," Peter replied.

"So now we just have Hook left to take care of," said Sora. Peter then beckoned them together.

"Listen carefully. I have a plan."

A little while later, Lucy, Donald, and Goofy were hiding quietly behind a group of barrels. Sora and Peter quietly approached the door leading into Hook's study. Peter knocked on the door two times.

"Is that you, Smee?" asked the voice of Captain Hook. "Did you finish them off?"

Peter then pinched his nose and proceeded to do a spot-on impersonation of Smee.

"Aye, Captain. They walked the plank, every last one of them!" Peter replied in his Smee voice. Lucy could tell that he was trying his hardest not to break out into laughter. Hook suddenly ran out of the study, completely oblivious to the presence of Sora and Peter, and looked around. Peter snuck up behind the Captain and proceeded to poke him in the rear with his knife. Hook let out a scream and growled as he turned around to face his enemy.

"P-Peter Pa...blast you!" Hook yelled. Lucy, Donald, and Goofy jumped out from their hiding place.

"Ready to make a splash, you codfish?! Now it's your turn to walk the plank!" Peter teased. Hook was done with bantering. He pulled out his rapier and charged for Peter and Sora. Sora deflected Hook's attack with his Keyblade but Hook brought his hook down and nearly cut Sora. Peter flew in and sliced a piece of Hook's clothing. Hook then shoved the hilt of his sword into Peter's stomach and kicked Sora, causing him to fall onto his back. Hook raised his sword. Donald charged for Hook and shot a lightning bolt at him. Hook dodged the magical attack and brought his sword and hook down on the duck. Donald dodged the sword but Hook's hook cut his arm slightly. Donald yelped at the sudden pain in his arm. Hook quickly found himself getting surrounded so he jumped back and ran for the main deck. Lucy had to give the pirate captain credit, he _was_ a pretty good fighter in his own right.

"Come at me then!" Hook yelled as he aimed his sword and hook. Lucy, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Peter all charged towards the pirate captain. More Heartless began appearing on the deck alongside Hook. Lucy and Sora took out more Heartless while Donald, Goofy, and Peter faced off against Hook. Hook swung his sword at Peter and Peter blocked the attack with his knife. Donald tried to strike Hook with his staff but Hook grabbed onto the duck and tossed him up into the air. Donald found his feet caught in a net, which resulted in him hanging upside down.

"Oh! Not again!" Donald groaned as he tried to break free. A group of flying Heartless flew towards Donald. Sora used the Keyblade to shoot a few blasts of fire at the Heartless. They were all direct hits. Donald managed to free himself and he quickly returned to fighting alongside Goofy and Peter.

"You can use magic too?" Lucy asked Sora as she took out another Heartless.

"Yeah. It comes with wielding the Keyblade," Sora replied. Lucy looked and noticed that Hook was proving to be more than a formidable foe for Donald, Goofy, and Peter. She then looked back at the crocodile far below, who was still lusting for another taste of Captain Hook. Sora looked down at the crocodile, at Hook, and then to Lucy. "You thinking was I'm thinking?"

"I think I am." They smiled deviously as they began making their way towards Hook through a crowd of Heartless. Lucy caught Peter's attention and pointed towards the crocodile. Peter nodded and winked.

"Take that, you old codfish!" Peter laughed as he proceeded to get into a feisty one-on-one duel with the pirate captain.

"I will not lose to you again, Peter Pan!" growled Hook. They locked swords and Peter gave Hook a violent shove towards the plank. Hook looked back and noticed the crocodile. He appeared to begin getting sick. "I know what you're planning, Pan! I will not allow it!"

Hook thrusted his sword forward and sliced a piece of cloth from Peter's shirt. Heartless began crowding around Lucy and the others. Even if Hook were to be taken care of, the Heartless would still be a huge problem.

"How are we to get rid of them all?" Donald asked. Lucy looked down at her sword and realized that it was beginning to glow. Then an idea popped in her head. It was a shot at the dark at best, but she was willing to try it. She raised her sword above her head and pointed it straight up.

"Donald! Strike my sword with lightning!" she ordered.

"What?!"

"Just do it!" The Heartless were beginning to box them in. Donald aimed his staff at Lucy's sword.

"Are you sure about this?"

"No! But do it anyway!" Donald closed one eye nervously as he fired a lightning bolt at the sword. As the lightning hit the sword, a series of violet lightning bolts shot off the sword and took out all of the surrounding Heartless. A few stragglers quickly made their way below deck.

"Wow! Nice job, Lucy!" said Sora.

"Thanks," Lucy replied.

"How did you know that would work?" Donald asked.

"I didn't."

Peter and Hook were still caught in a heated sword battle. The tides of the fight kept turning. Hook would have the lead at one moment only for Peter to gain the lead at the next moment.

"I will not lose again!" Captain Hook scowled.

"There's one thing you need to learn, Hook. One, is that as long as I'm here you'll always lose," Peter boasted. "And two, you better watch your step."

Hook looked and realized that he was suddenly on the edge of the plank. Peter gave him one last shove and the captain went tumbling over the edge. He fell into the water with a loud splash. As he surfaced, he turned and saw that the crocodile was right next to him. Peter laughed as the crocodile chased Hook off towards the land in the distance.

"See you around, you old codfish!" Peter laughed.

The night quickly fell silent as everyone realized that they had won the battle. They wanted to celebrate but nobody was in the mood for celebration, especially Sora. Sora stood on the edge of the boat, looking out towards the endless ocean of Neverland. Lucy knew exactly what he was thinking about.

Donald looked up at Lucy and asked, "Lucy, Kairi didn't wake up so does that mean that she's-"

"Let's not talk about it right now, Donald," Lucy replied.

"Sora," said Peter.

"I still can't believe it," said Sora. Lucy sighed. He knew that he was talking about Riku's betrayal and Kairi's fate. Sora looked up and said, "I can't believe that I really flew! Wait 'til I tell Kairi! I wonder if she'll believe me. Probably not."

Lucy couldn't help but smile as she grew some more respect for the spiky-haired boy. It seemed like no matter how bad a situation, he would always try to make light of things.

"You can bring her to Neverland sometime," Peter said to Sora as he walked forward. "Then she can try it herself."

"If you believe, you can do anything, right? I'll find Kairi. I know I will. There's so much I wanna tell her. About flying, the pirates, and everything else that's happened."

"I bet you'll find her, Sora," Lucy said sadly.

"Why do you look so sad, Lucy?" Goofy asked.

"I guess it's time that I was heading home, right? That's where you were taking me before all of this happened." Sora and Goofy turned to Donald and smiled. Donald sighed before smiling and looking up at Lucy.

"Lucy, would you like to...stick around with us for a little while longer?" Donald asked.

"What are you saying?"

"We're saying that you can come with us!" said Goofy. Lucy felt like she could jump for the heavens. She was going to continue traveling with them! She ran forward to Sora and gave him a quick hug. She then stepped back and took hold of one of Sora's hands.

"Thank you, Sora."

"And I promise that we'll visit Narnia once all of this is over," said Sora. Lucy shook her head.

"This isn't about me getting the chance to return to Narnia anymore. This is about finding your friends and defeating the Heartless. I'll do everything in my power to see that you and your friends return home, Sora. Besides, I have a feeling that this is what Aslan wants me to do. He wants me to help you save the worlds from the darkness."

"And who knows? Maybe you'll come across Aslan on our journey!"

"I doubt it. He's not someone that you come across often."

"Aslan?" Peter asked. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

Just then, Tinker Bell flew out of nowhere. Everybody suddenly realized that the fairy had up and disappeared following her release from Hook's clutches.

"And where have _you_ been?" Donald asked. Tinker Bell flew up to Peter.

"What's that, Tink?" Peter asked. "The clock tower? You say something's there?"

"What about the clock tower?" Lucy asked.

"Tinker Bell went to check up on Wendy at the clock tower in London where I left her temporarily. Tink says that Wendy's awake now and something has appeared on the clock."

"And what would that be?" Goofy asked.

"She says that it looked like a glowing keyhole." Lucy, Sora, Donald, and Goofy fell silent.

Donald turned towards Sora and asked, "You don't think-"

"Another keyhole!" Sora exclaimed.

"We best go and close it!" said Jiminy from within Sora's hood.

"Right!" said Goofy.

"But how are we to get to London from here?" Lucy asked.

"How else?" Peter said as he began levitating. "We fly, of course!"


	10. The Other London

Chapter 10: The Other London

Before long, Lucy was flying through the sky alongside Sora, Donald, Goofy, Peter, and Tinker Bell. She looked back and saw that Captain Hook's ship had been reduced to a speck on the open sea. Lucy hadn't done much flying in her life, she hadn't even ridden on a plane back on Earth. She had once flown on the back of Aslan as well as fly on Eustace's back when he had been turned into a dragon but that was pretty much it. Flying on her own with nothing but the mixed powers of belief and fairy dust was certainly something new to experience. It felt like swimming through air, and, in a way, that's what flying really was to begin with. Air currents moved around her and her clothing fluttered as she flew. She looked back again. Hook's ship could no longer be made out at this point.

"It's cold up here!" said Donald as he shook.

"I think it's wonderful!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Me too!" Sora added. "I wonder if Kairi would enjoy flying."

Lucy smiled sadly.

"I'm sure that she would. Why don't we bring her back here, like Peter said, and let her try it herself?"

"We have to find her and stop the darkness of course."

"Of course! I didn't forget that!" Lucy looked forward and realized that they were all flying in the direction of one, particular star. As they flew closer and closer to the star, the sky began to shift and fade around them. Within moments, the night sky changed to an aerial view of a city: London, England. Lucy suddenly realized that they were gliding downwards now, as opposed to the fact that they were originally flying upwards. Lucy wanted to question Peter about this but felt that it was just Neverland logic that you just had to believe in. "So this is London in 1913."

Lucy looked down upon the London of the past. It wasn't that different from her London in most regards. However, there were a few differences. There appeared to be less electrical devices and the city still gave off a 19th century feel as opposed to an early 20th century feel that Lucy had expected. Lucy couldn't help but feel weird about the fact that she was flying over London a full nineteen years before her birth. The first Great War hadn't even started yet.

"It looks bigger in this London," Sora said suddenly.

"What does?" Lucy asked.

"The clock tower." Lucy looked and realized that Sora was right. The Palace of Westminister looked to be around the same size here but the clock tower looked much bigger. It stretched high into the sky and looked like it was much wider than normal. The clock looked like it was a small moon.

"There's Wendy!" said Peter as he pointed right above the clock. Wendy was sitting in what appeared to be an open walkway that was situated right above the clock. Lucy, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Peter landed right next to Wendy. "Hi Wendy!"

Wendy ran forward and hugged Peter.

"You're all right! All of you are!" she exclaimed. She then turned to Lucy and hugged her as well. "What happened to Hook?"

"We sent that codfish running with a crocodile on his tail!" Peter laughed. Wendy then turned to Sora.

"What about Kairi and...Riku?" Sora let out a loud sigh.

"Gone. Both of them," he replied.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I'll find them." Sora then looked over the edge. "So where's the keyhole?"

Tinker Bell let out a series of rings.

"Tink says that it's on the clock right beneath us," Peter said.

"Right." Sora summoned the Keyblade. "I'll seal it."

Lucy watched as Sora flew towards the face of the clock. Something began shining on the clock's face which Lucy identified as the keyhole. Sora aimed the Keyblade at the keyhole and a beam of light shot out of it. There was a quick flash of light and the keyhole closed with a soft click.

"Another keyhole closed!" announced Donald.

"I wonder how many more keyholes there are," said Goofy.

"I hope not too many." Lucy chuckled and turned to face Peter and Wendy. They were walking together; well, Wendy was walking and Peter was gliding. They were obviously talking about something important. Sora flew up and landed next to Donald and Goofy.

"Well, that's taken care of," said Sora.

"So where are we off to next?" Donald asked.

"Hook said that Riku had taken Kairi to a place called Hollow Bastion," said Lucy.

"Where Maleficent resides," Goofy added.

"Then that's where we go next," said Sora.

"Who's this Maleficent I keep hearing about?" Lucy asked.

"She's a witch!" replied Donald. Lucy couldn't help but think of the White Witch, Jadis, upon hearing the word _witch_.

"And apparently a mean and powerful one at that," said Goofy.

"We can handle her," said Lucy.

"You think so?"

"I _know_ so. Let's just say I've had some experience with witches back in Narnia." Suddenly, Lucy thought of something. "Wait a minute...what about the Gummi Ship?!"

"Huh?" Sora asked.

"The Gummi Ship! What happened to it?! How are we to travel to this Hollow Bastion if we don't have the Gummi Ship?!" Donald pulled a weird-looking device out of his pocket and examined it.

"The Gummi Ship is waiting for us. All I have to do is press this button and we'll be beamed right up into it," he said.

"What?"

"We don't usually park the Gummi Ship in the worlds we visit. We usually park it right outside the world and beam ourselves down. The only reason we physically parked it in your world, Lucy, is because it parked itself down there for some reason," said Sora. Lucy smiled as she thought about how a certain lion may have had a hand, or claw, in that. She suddenly turned towards Donald.

"Wait a moment. So you could beam yourselves up into the Gummi Ship this whole time?"

"No. The beam only works in certain parts of the worlds we visit. The clock tower here in one of those parts," Donald replied as he presented the remote to Lucy. "This tells me when we're in one of those parts."

"I see. That's very...interesting." Lucy turned around to see that Peter and Wendy were approaching them again.

"So you're leaving?" Peter asked.

"Yeah. We've got some friends to save," said Sora.

"Make sure to visit Neverland again once you've done what you need to get done."

"I will."

"It was nice meeting you, Lucy Pevensie," said Wendy as she extended a hand. "I hope you have a wonderful life in 1946."

"Well, it was nice meeting you as well, Wendy Darling," said Lucy as she shook Wendy's hand. "I hope you have a good life here in 1913...oh."

Lucy fell silent. She suddenly thought about the war that was to come in the following year.

"What's wrong?" Wendy asked.

"Enjoy the time with your family, Wendy. Cherish every moment of it. I just want to warn you that...dark times are coming," Lucy replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Things are going to get difficult really quickly, but don't worry. Things will get better. They will. Trust me, I know." Wendy smiled and the two English girls hugged one last time. Wendy then stepped back and so did Lucy.

"You don't have to worry about Wendy," said Peter. "I'll always be here to make sure that she gets through the tough times."

"Promise?" Wendy asked.

"Promise." Lucy, Sora, Donald, and Goofy couldn't help but smile.

"Well, we better head off," said Donald.

"Take care!" said Wendy.

"You too!" said Goofy.

"See ya!" said Peter.

"See you later!" said Sora.

"Goodbye," said Lucy. Donald pressed a button on the remote and Lucy watched as Peter, Wendy, and the rest of 1913 London disappeared around her. The next thing she knew, she was standing in the middle of the Gummi Ship.

"Let's see. Hollow Bastion, was it?" Donald asked as he sat in his seat.

"Yeah. Full speed to Hollow Bastion!" said Sora. Lucy looked out the window and saw a circular object floating in what appeared to be blue-green space. It looked like a planet and yet it wasn't.

"Is that the world we were just in?" Lucy asked.

"Yep! That's what they look like from the Gummi Ship!" Goofy replied.

"It looks so odd and...small."

"They all do," said Sora as he began working with the controls. The Gummi Ship groaned a bit and then it was off. Lucy watched as the world of 1913 England/Neverland disappeared far behind them.

They flew in silence for at least a half-hour. Worlds and stars passed by in the blink of an eye. Lucy couldn't help but notice that Sora was looking much more depressed than he previously had.

"Sora?" she asked as she stepped forward.

"Huh?" he asked.

"Do...do you want to talk?"

"Not really at the moment. Right now, I just want to focus on finding Kairi...and Riku."

"You still think there's hope for Riku?"

"My friend's in there somewhere. Maleficent, the Heartless, and the darkness have corrupted him. I'll save him too, along with Kairi."

"Don't forget to keep smiling!" said Goofy.

"What?" Lucy asked.

"It's kind of a rule around here. No frowny faces. This ship runs on smiley faces!" said Donald.

"Really?"

"Maybe...possibly...the point is that there is no frowning on board the Gummi Ship!"

"Never forget being happy!" Goofy chimed.

"Happy?" Sora asked. Lucy, Donald, and Goofy fell silent. Suddenly, Sora gasped and slumped forward. He had lost consciousness. Lucy pulled Sora's head up and tried to wake him up. His eyes were closed shut and his breathing had become slow and heavy.

"Sora! Sora! Wake up! Sora!" she cried. Suddenly, a cold wave of electricity rolled through Lucy's body. Lucy found herself standing in the middle of a library. She could see Sora floating a few feet off the ground in front of her. He looked like a transparent ghost. Sora didn't seem to be aware of her presence. Lucy then realized that she and Sora weren't alone. Sitting in the corner of the library was an elderly woman who was talking to a little girl with dark purple hair. She looked to be around four years old, the girl. Lucy couldn't help but feel that she had seen the young girl somewhere before. The grandmother appeared to be talking but Lucy couldn't hear any words being spoken. It was as if she were watching a scene from a film on mute. When the grandmother had stopped talking, she disappeared into thin air like a spirit. Sora then reached towards the young girl and began calling something. Lucy could hear Sora's voice, but it was very faint.

"Kairi? Kairi!" he called. Lucy looked towards the young girl and realized that she looked an awful lot like Kairi as Lucy would have pictured her as a young girl.

"Kairi?" Lucy asked. Suddenly, the young girl disappeared and so did the transparent Sora.

"Don't worry, Lucy," said a powerful, familiar voice. Lucy turned to her left to see the warm and welcoming face of a great lion smiling at her. "It'll all make sense in due time."

"Aslan?!" Aslan and the library disappeared in a flash of white light and Lucy suddenly found herself back in the Gummi Ship. Goofy was standing next to her and was shaking her arm.

"Lucy?! Lucy! Lucy, wake up!" he called. "Oh...you're awake!"

Lucy looked and saw that Sora was waking up as well. Donald was still in his seat and was looking at her and Sora with concern.

"What happened?" Lucy asked.

That's what _we'd_ like to know!" stated Donald. "Sora blacked out, you went to check up on him, and then you just suddenly froze in place!"

"I...froze?"

"Yeah. You fell quiet and began staring down at Sora with this blank, emotionless look on your face," said Goofy. Lucy rubbed her temple and took a few steps back. Sora stood up as well.

"Kairi? Did you call me?" he suddenly asked.

"What'd you say, Sora?" Donald asked.

"Nothing! Just thinking out loud!" Lucy knew this was a lie. She had seen what Sora had seen. But...what really had she seen? Did she and Sora share a vision of a younger Kairi? And then there was Aslan. She had seen him. He hadn't appeared to her as a faint voice in the back of her mind. He had appeared right in front of her and his voice had been as clear as day. What did he know that she didn't about what was to come? A lot of things, obviously. Suddenly, a random question popped into Lucy's mind.

"Sora...where's Kairi from?" she asked. Sora fell silent as he turned to face Lucy.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"I mean, is Kairi from your home? Is she from Destiny Islands?"

"Yeah. She, Riku, and I all came from the same world."

"I'm not talking about now. I'm talking about birth. Was Kairi born in your world?"

"Why the sudden interest in where Kairi comes from?"

"I don't know. The question just popped in my head."

"We're here!" Donald announced. Sora gave Lucy a look that pretty much stated something along the lines of _we'll continue this conversation later_. Lucy looked out the front window of the Gummi Ship. Another world was waiting for them. However, this world didn't look as welcoming as the one that held 1913 England and Neverland. This world looked dark, foreboding, and just...frightening.

"There it is," said Sora. "Hollow Bastion."


	11. Hollow Bastion

Chapter 11: Hollow Bastion

The Gummi Ship came to a smooth stop. Donald got up from his chair and presented the Gummi Remote.

"Everybody ready to head down?" he asked.

"Yes," said Lucy, Sora, and Goofy together. Donald clicked the button and Lucy watched as the interior of the Gummi Ship faded away. A second later, Lucy found herself and the others standing on a stone platform. Floating ice platforms created a stepping stone path before them that led upwards and waterfalls acted as borders for the area they were in. The waterfalls were moving upwards, however, and Lucy couldn't help but feel amazed by what she saw. The sky was a light reddish-orange and the outline of a massive castle loomed in the distance.

"Gawrsh, look at that!" said Goofy as he pointed towards the castle.

"Look at _that_? Look at _everything_!" stated Donald.

"It's amazing," said Lucy. "But I have the feeling that some extremely powerful magic is behind this."

"You're probably right, with this being the place where Maleficent resides and all," said Goofy.

"I know this place," said Sora suddenly.

"What?" Donald asked.

"I know this place."

"Have you been here before?" Lucy asked.

"No. I've never been here before. I've never left my world once before it was swallowed by the darkness."

"Then how can you know this place?"

"I don't know. It just looks...familiar to me." Lucy wanted to question Sora further but a loud roar broke the calm silence.

"What was that?!" asked Donald. Lucy unsheathed her sword and pointed towards the castle.

"It sounded like it came in that direction," she replied.

"We best be on our guard. If Maleficent's here then there's bound to be lots of Heartless," said Goofy as he armed himself with his shield. Sora summoned the Keyblade and Donald pulled out his staff.

"All right," said Sora. "Let's go."

The four travelers found themselves quickly involved in a game of stepping stones as they hopped from one ice platform to the next. They progressively grew higher and higher with each passing step. They were surprised to find that no Heartless blocked their path. They were soon getting close to the top. Lucy noticed a platform that was different from the others. It was made mostly of stone and had stone pillars and a stone arch on it. Somebody was standing on said platform and was talking to someone else, who was on a lower, ice platform.

"Hold back for a moment!" Lucy whispered. "Somebody's there!"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy followed Lucy's warning and they kept themselves hidden.

"Who's up there?" Goofy asked. Lucy and Sora quickly identified the figure on the higher platform: it was Riku. The figure on the lower platform, however, was a mystery. He looked like a hybrid of a man and a monster, but mostly a monster. He wore blue pants and a purple cape. The word that came to mind when Lucy saw him was _beast_. Riku and the beast were talking and the four travelers decided to keep quiet and listen to what they were saying.

"No vessel, no help from the Heartless. So tell me, how'd you get here?" Riku asked.

"I simply believed. Nothing more to it," the beast replied. "When our world fell into darkness, Belle was taken from me. I vowed I would find her again no matter what the cost. I believed I would find her. So, here I am. She must be here. I will have her back!"

"Take her if you can!" The beast let out a frightening roar before jumping for Riku. Riku did a backflip and dodged the beast's attack by mere inches. Riku then unveiled his weapon, a terrifying red blade. While the beast was still recovering from his jump, Riku jumped forward and attacked the beast with his weapon.

"We need to help him!" said Sora as he jumped up and made his way up to the platform. Lucy, Donald, and Goofy were right behind him. The beast had fallen to the ground, slightly weakened by Riku's attack. Riku was ready to finish the job. "Stop!"

Lucy, Sora, Donald, and Goofy got in between Riku and the beast.

"So, you finally made it. About time. I've been waiting for you, Sora," Riku chuckled. "We've always been rivals, haven't we? You've always pushed me as I've always pushed you."

"Riku-"

"But it all ends here. There can't be two Keyblade masters."

"What are you talking about?"

"Let the Keyblade choose its true master!" Riku extended his hand. Suddenly, the Keyblade in Sora's hands began to shake.

"Sora! What's happening?!" Lucy asked.

"I don't know!" Sora replied. Sora grabbed onto the shaking Keyblade as it began to pull away from him. Then it disappeared in a flash of light.

"WHAT?!" asked Donald.

"Huh?!" exclaimed Goofy. The Keyblade then appeared in Riku's extended hand.

"What just happened?!" Lucy asked. She pointed her sword at Riku. "What did you do?!"

"The Keyblade has just chosen its true master. Maleficent was right," Riku chuckled. He then pointed at Sora. "You don't have what it takes to save Kairi! It's up to me. Only the Keyblade master can unlock the secret door and change the world."

Lucy was completely lost now. How could Riku now have possession of the Keyblade? What was this talk of a secret door?

"But that's impossible. How did this happen?" asked a shocked Sora. "I'm the one who fought my way here with the Keyblade!"

"You were just the delivery boy," Riku said with a cold smile. He then presented a wooden, toy sword to Sora. "Sorry, your part's over now. Here, go play hero with this."

Riku then tossed the sword to Sora. Sora fell on his hands and knees. Lucy had had enough of this. She pointed her sword at Riku once more.

"The Keyblade doesn't belong to you! Give it back to Sora!" she ordered. She then charged at Riku. Riku dodged the attack and sent a burst of electricity at Lucy with the Keyblade. The attack was a direct hit. Lucy screamed in pain as magic electricity coursed through her body. She flew back and landed right next to the saddened Sora and the wounded beast.

"Pathetic. You actually thought you could take on the true Keyblade master, little queen?" Riku chuckled again as he turned around and began heading up to the castle. Lucy punched the ground in frustration.

"Goofy...let's go," said Donald suddenly. "We have to remember our mission."

Lucy looked up.

"What are you guys talking about?" Lucy asked.

"Oh! Well I know the king told us to follow the key and all," said Goofy. "But-"

Goofy fell silent as he and Donald began walking after Riku.

"Where are you two going?! Are you...are you _following_ Riku?!" a stunned Lucy asked.

"King Mickey gave us a mission to follow the Keyblade. We can't betray his wishes," said Donald.

"But Sora's your _friend_! You can't betray him!"

"We don't want to leave Sora...but the Keyblade has a new master now. We have to follow the king's orders." Donald turned to look at Sora who was still on his hands and knees. "Sora...sorry."

"We're sorry to you too, Lucy," Goofy added sadly as he and Donald turned around and began following Riku.

"You two are just as bad as Riku," said Lucy as she began to cry with anger. Donald and Goofy froze for a moment but then continued on their way. Lucy could see that Donald was shaking. Was he crying too? Within moments, Lucy found herself alone with Sora and the beast. Lucy turned to face Sora. "Sora...I'm so sorry. Don't worry. _I_ won't abandon you."

The beast suddenly got up and began limping past them. He didn't make it far for the pain of his wounds returned and he fell back onto his hands and knees. Sora got up and ran to the beast's aid, as did Lucy.

"Hey, don't move. You're hurt," said Sora.

"You should rest," Lucy added.

"Why...why did you...you come here?" asked the beast. "I came to fight for Belle." The beast stood up and continued to limp forward. "And though I am on my own, I will fight. I won't leave without her. That's why I'm here."

"You must really care for her, Belle."

"I do...very much."

"I'm searching too...for my friends," said Sora. He then turned back and picked up the wooden sword that Riku had given him. "And I'm not gonna give up now. Not after everything I've been through! I came here to find someone very important to me!"

"Maybe we should team up for now and look for our friends together," said Lucy as she pointed at the beast and then to herself and Sora. "We'll help you and you'll help us."

"To be honest...I could use some help. The Heartless are bound to be relentless here. We're extremely close to the darkness," said the beast.

"Then it's settled! I'm Lucy, by the way. Lucy Pevensie."

"I'm Sora," said Sora.

"You can call me the Beast," said the beast.

"The Beast? You don't have a name of your own aside from that?" Lucy asked curiously.

"I did...once. But, now, I might as well be called what I truly am: a beast."

"Okay then, Beast. Let's start off our journey by getting into that castle."

It didn't take long for Lucy, Sora, and the Beast to make their way to the final platform. A small tram of sorts was waiting for them. It was a platform suspended by moving cables. Lucy activated the switch before she, Sora, and the Beast hopped on. The platform carried them over a crevasse that was so deep that Lucy couldn't see the bottom. Sora was still depressed and Lucy understood why. He had lost the Keyblade to Riku of all people and, just to put the final nail in the coffin, Donald and Goofy had run off with Riku to follow the orders of their _king_. If there was anyone else that Lucy hated at the moment aside from Riku, it was Donald and Goofy. But could she really blame them for their actions? After all, they were just following their king's orders and Lucy could tell that they were very loyal to this King Mickey. But, still, since when did following orders have a higher importance than staying and fighting alongside your friends, especially in their darkest of times? Lucy looked up towards the sky and thought of Aslan.

"Aslan, help us all," she said under her breath.

The moving platform eventually reached its destination. Lucy couldn't help but stare in awe at the structure before her. It was a large, magnificent castle that looked like somebody had taken heaps of scrap metal and clock gears and had smashed them together. Several platforms suspended from laser wires of sorts were scattered throughout the area. A large, entrance door stood at the foot of the castle. Lucy, Sora, and the Beast approached the door with caution but, upon arriving at the door, they came across an unexpected dilemma: the door was locked.

"It's locked," Lucy sighed.

"Riku must have locked it," said Sora. He looked at the wooden sword in his hand. "I'd be able to open it if I still had the Keyblade."

"I can smash it open," said the Beast as he cracked his knuckles, or claws.

"I don't think that's a good idea," said Lucy. "This door looks to be locked magically. Trying to smash it down wouldn't do a thing; in fact, it'd probably attract the attention of more Heartless. So far, we haven't come across a single Heartless and I'd like to prolong that for as long as possible."

"Okay then. So how are we to get inside?" Sora asked.

"There must be a secondary way to open this door aside from opening and closing it with magic. I would assume that there might be an emergency switch located somewhere that, if flipped, would open the door for us."

"So where is it then?" Lucy looked over at a suspended platform a few yards away. It was attached to a vertical laser wire and looked like a golden bird cage.

"Over there. That looks like an elevator. Maybe there's a switch somewhere below."

"It's worth a shot, I guess."

Lucy, Sora, and the Beast approached the elevator. Once they were inside, Lucy activated a switch in the center of the platform. It jerked a bit and began to descend. Within seconds, the elevator had come to a stop far below the ground level of the castle. They stepped off the elevator and examined the area around them. There was nothing there aside from the rock supports of the castle and a small pond of ice. Floating in the middle of the area, a few feet above the ice, was a large bubble.

"So where's the switch?" asked the Beast. Lucy tried to think.

"Maybe it's beneath the ice," Sora guessed.

"Why would it be under the ice?" Lucy asked.

"To make it difficult for intruders, like us, to find it. The only question now is how to get under the ice." Lucy looked at the bubble.

"Maybe that bubble has something to do with it."

"I'm willing to try anything, if it'll get us into that castle...and to Belle," said the Beast. Lucy, Sora, and the Beast approached the bubble. "Are we to get inside of it?"

"Possibly. Either that or it could unleash a spell and destroy us."

"If it does then I'm blaming you, Lucy," Sora chuckled.

"Fine, I'll take full responsibility." Lucy, Sora, and the Beast surrounded the bubble.

"Okay. On the count of three, we'll all touch it. Got it?"

"Got it," said Lucy and the Beast.

"Good. Okay...one." Sora extended his hand.

"Two," said Lucy as she extended her hand.

"Three," said the Beast as he extended his hand.

"Now!" they all said as they touched the bubble. Lucy felt like she had been turned into water and stretched. She was pulled into the bubble and began spinning around like a top. She could just make out the outlines of Sora and the Beast, who were experiencing the same thing that she was. The world became blurred and then, suddenly, she stopped spinning. She took a few steps back and realized that she was no longer standing on ice. She looked down. She was standing on a blue brick floor. She looked up. An ice ceiling was located at least ten feet above her head. They had done it. They were under the ice. They were underwater.

"This is too weird," said Sora as he stepped away from the underwater bubble, which would act as their way back to the surface. Lucy could feel water touching her body but she didn't feel wet and she could breathe as if she were above water.

"How are we able to breathe if we're underwater?" the Beast asked.

"Magic, of course," said Lucy as a fish swam past her head. She then looked past the Beast. She could see the entrance of a long, green hallway. "I'm guessing that the switch is down that way."

"Lead the way, captain," said Sora with a smirk.

"Feeling better?"

"Not really...but I'm trying." Lucy patted Sora on the shoulder as they began their trek through the hallway.

It got dark extremely quickly. There was next to no light source in the underwater hallway. The only light sources were the occasional underwater lamp and glowing fish. The Beast grabbed three glowing fish and began using them as flashlights.

"Is that better?" he asked.

"Excellent. Just like a torch," said Lucy. Eventually, they came across a large room. A single, green switch stood in the middle. There was no other way to go. This was the end of the road. "Is it safe to assume that's the switch we're looking for?"

"I would say so," said Sora. They approached the switch and Lucy activated it. The room shook and the sound of an unlocking lock emanated throughout the room.

A woman's voice appeared out of nowhere and said, "Main entrance now unlocked. Proceed with caution."

"Well, that's that," said Lucy.

"Good. Let's head up there," said the Beast.

"Lucy. Beast. We have company!" Sora warned. Lucy and the Beast turned to see that a colony of fish-based Heartless had appeared out of nowhere. They had sharp claws and large mouths. The Beast roared and Lucy unsheathed her sword. The Beast then launched himself at the Heartless, tearing through them with each deadly strike of his claws. Lucy joined the fight and began taking out Heartless with her sword. Two Heartless made their way towards Sora. Sora swung his wooden sword at them but the toy weapon had no effect on them. "I can't hurt them! My sword's useless!"

Heartless began ganging up on Sora. Lucy ran over to protect her friend. It soon became apparent that the Beast had been right. The Heartless here in Hollow Bastion were extremely relentless. No matter how many were slain by Lucy and the Beast, more would appear out of thin air. It was becoming too much for them.

"Beast! We need to get above water! There's too many of them!" Lucy shouted.

"Let's go then! I've had enough of these fowl Heartless!" the Beast roared as he took out three more. Lucy, Sora, and the Beast ran down the dark hallway. The colony of Heartless was chasing after them in hot pursuit. Lucy's heart was beating out of her chest. Then, she saw the bubble.

"There it is!" Lucy, Sora, and the Beast all grabbed onto each other. Lucy reached her hand out towards the bubble. One, large Heartless with a spear appeared and charged at them. The three intruders jumped for the bubble. The Heartless threw its spear. The Beast let out a roar of pain as he, Lucy, and Sora were teleported up above the ice.

"We made it!" Sora exclaimed as he fell upon the top of the frozen pond.

"Beast!" Lucy exclaimed. The spear had been driven straight into the Beast's chest. He was losing a lot of blood.

"Oh no!" Sora and Lucy gathered around him.

"Belle...I...I need to find...Belle," the Beast gasped.

"Hold still!" Lucy ordered. She slowly pulled the spear out of the Beast's chest. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out her cordial. "Open your mouth." The Beast did as he was told but it was apparent that he was quickly losing consciousness. Lucy opened the top of the bottle and let one drop of the red liquid fall into the Beast's open mouth. The Beast's eyes closed and his chest stopped rising. "Come on! Work! Work!"

Lucy and Sora looked down at the Beast anxiously for at least a minute until Sora noticed something.

"His wound...it's healing!" he exclaimed. The hole in the Beast's chest sealed up like time was being reversed on his body. His eyes then shot open and he let out a loud roar that nearly made Lucy and Sora jump out of their skin. "I think I just went deaf in one ear."

Lucy and Sora laughed and the Beast smiled.

"Thank you, Lucy," he said. Lucy presented the cordial to him.

"Magic cordial. Never leave home without it," she said as she stashed it back in her pocket. Sora then helped the Beast back to his feet.

"That was a close one," said Sora. "Good thing you were here, Lucy."

"What would you do without me?" Lucy laughed again. "Come on, you two. Let's get back up to the castle."

"Right. Kairi's waiting for us!"

"And Belle," the Beast added.

"And everyone and every_thing_ else," Lucy stated.


	12. The Keyblade's Choice

Chapter 12: The Keyblade's Choice

Lucy, Sora, and the Beast jumped off the elevator as soon as it reached ground level. Surprisingly, no Heartless appeared as they made their way towards the door.

"This is it," said Sora as he, Lucy, and the Beast arrived in front of the entrance. "Once we're beyond this door, there's no going back."

"Sora, we passed the point of no return long before this," said Lucy with a sigh. Lucy gripped the hilt of her sword tighter. The Beast armed his claws. Sora looked down at his wooden sword. Lucy expected him to sigh or look at it with a depressed look on his face, but he did neither of these actions. He instead smiled and let out a small chuckle.

"Come on. Let's go in." Sora then pushed the doors open.

A simply hallway greeted them on the other side of the door. It wasn't that wide and it wasn't that long. It had tan and pink wallpaper and the floor was covered in light-pink rugs. Lucy took a closer look at the rugs and saw that they weren't made pink. The pink color had been brought on from years of wear, tear, and decay. She assumed that the wallpaper and the rugs had been deep red at one point in time. Another set of double doors greeted them at the end of the hallway. They remained quiet as they passed through the doors.

Lucy stared in awe at the entrance forum before them. A giant, blue chandelier hung from the ceiling and was suspended around twelve feet above the ground floor. A fountain stood towards the upper-middle of the room and two sets of stairs encircled the fountain. Both sets of stairs led up to the second level of the room, which was lined with several doors. This room looked a little bit more taken care of than the hallway they had just come from.

"Be on your guard," the Beast warned. "Heartless are near, I can feel it. Are you ready for them?"

"You bet!" said Sora.

"Yes," said Lucy as she armed her sword. Lucy and Sora began making their way forward. Suddenly, the Beast turned back towards the doors that led into the entrance hallway.

"Belle?!" he asked. Lucy and Sora turned around. A woman was standing in the doorway. She was quite beautiful. She had neat, brown hair and gorgeous, brown eyes. She was wearing what appeared to be a golden evening gown. For some reason, the woman made Lucy think of her older sister Susan. She didn't know why. Suddenly, the woman referred to as Belle disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. In her place, there stood a simple shadow Heartless. The Beast shook with anger before letting out a frightful roar. He then leapt for the Heartless.

"Beast! No!" cried Lucy. As soon as the Beast passed through the doorway, it shut behind him; thus separating him from Lucy and Sora.

"Quit while you can," said a familiar, cold voice. Lucy and Sora turned around. Riku was standing before them. Donald and Goofy were standing alongside him, though they both looked like they felt guilty for doing so.

"No. Not without Kairi," Sora replied.

"The darkness will destroy you. _Both_ of you." Riku's clothing suddenly changed. The outfit was hard to describe but Lucy could best describe it as a piece of armor based off the appearance of the Heartless. It was dark blue, red, had a white cloth of sorts wrapped around the waste area, and had a black heart in the center of the chest area. This was an outfit constructed entirely out of dark magic. Lucy readied her sword.

"You're wrong, Riku!" Lucy snapped.

"Right!" said Sora. "The darkness may destroy our bodies, but it can never touch our hearts." Lucy and Sora stood closer together. Sora gripped the wooden sword in his hands tighter. He then placed one of his hands against his chest. "My heart will stay with my friends! It'll never die!"

"Nor will mine!" Riku let out a snide chuckle as a response to Lucy and Sora's remarks.

"Really?" he asked with a smile. "Well, we'll just see about that!"

Suddenly, Riku shot a blast of black, magical energy straight at Sora.

"Sora!" Lucy cried. Lucy stood in between Sora and the oncoming ball of energy. Lucy brought her sword up in front of her and braced herself for the impact. But it never came.

"Goofy," she heard Sora say. Lucy looked and saw that Goofy had stepped in between her and Riku's attack. He had deflected it with his shield.

"Goofy?" asked a shocked Lucy.

"Sora and Lucy ain't gonna go anywhere!" he snapped.

"Goofy." Lucy couldn't help but smile out of appreciation for her unexpected savior.

"You'd betray your king?" Riku asked as he summoned the Keyblade. "After all, _I_ have the key now and I believe your king told you to follow whoever has it."

"I'd never betray my king! Not on your life!" Goofy replied. He then turned back to look at Sora. "But I'm not gonna betray Sora either 'cause he's become one of my best buddies after all we've been through together! And I've already hurt Lucy once by abandoning her and Sora. I won't do it again and I certainly won't let you hurt her _or_ Sora!" Though Lucy was still a little bit mad at Donald and Goofy for going off with Riku, she couldn't help but gain a certain amount of respect for the anthropomorphic dog from another world. "See ya later, Donald! Could you tell the king that I'm really sorry?"

"Hold on, Goofy! We'll tell him together!" cried Donald. Donald then ran across the forum toward Lucy, Sora, and Goofy. He looked up at them. He still couldn't look Lucy straight in the face. "Well, you know...all for one and one for all."

"I guess you're stuck with us, Sora." Goofy looked at Lucy. "All three of us."

"Right!" said Lucy with a smile.

"Don't forget about me!" cried Jiminy.

"Gawrsh! Sorry, Jiminy!" Goofy chuckled. "And Jiminy too!"

Sora looked at his friends and smiled.

"Thanks a lot...Donald, Goofy, Lucy, Jiminy," he said.

"How will you fight without a weapon?" Riku asked. Lucy readied her sword, Donald readied his staff, and Goofy readied his shield. Sora looked at his friends and then back at Riku, a triumphant look plastered on his face.

"I know now that I don't need the Keyblade. I never did, for I've always had a better weapon on my side: my heart!"

"Your heart? What good will that weak little thing do for you?"

"Although my heart may be weak, it's not alone. It's grown with each new experience, and it's found a home with all the friends I've made." Sora looked at Lucy, Donald, and Goofy once again before turning back to Riku. "I've become part of their heart just as they've become part of mine. And if they think of me now and then...if they don't forget me...then our hearts will be one! I don't need a weapon! My friends are my power!"

Sora then pointed the wooden sword at Riku. For a moment, everyone stood in silence. Riku was about ready to use the Keyblade on Sora when it suddenly disappeared from his hand in a flash of light. Lucy watched as the wooden sword in Sora's hand disappeared and was replaced by the Keyblade. He did it. He got the Keyblade back. Riku pulled out the red blade he had used earlier to attack the Beast. Lucy readied herself. This was it.

Without any further words, Riku charged for Sora. Sora jumped in the air to avoid Riku's attack. He then swung the Keyblade down. Sora and Riku's blades met with a loud clang. Riku shoved Sora back and went after Donald. Donald shot a few blasts of fire at Riku and he deflected them. Goofy shoved Riku hard with his shield and pushed him away from Donald. Riku kicked Goofy hard in the shin and threw him back by shoving the hilt of his blade into Goofy's stomach. Riku then turned his attention to Lucy and charged. Lucy charged for Riku and kept her sword at the ready. Their weapons met several times with swift clangs. Riku managed to cut Lucy's arm but she returned the favor by cutting his face a bit and slicing off some of his hair. Riku then shot a bolt of electricity at her. Lucy dodged the attack by mere inches and fell to the ground in the process. Sora jumped in and brought the Keyblade down on Riku. He groaned as the weapon hit his body but he quickly recovered and thrusted his sword at Sora. Sora dodged the attack for the most part but still got a cut on his leg. Donald and Goofy charged at Riku but he blasted them away with a surge of magical energy.

"Stay back! This is between me and Sora!" Riku ordered as he began swinging his sword at Sora like mad. Sora blocked the attacks with the Keyblade. Their blades soon meet again and locked into place. Riku tried to stun Sora with some dark magic but Sora began using some of his own magic to deflect Riku's. A surge of energy began encircling the two rivals. "You can't win, Sora. I'm the one who can save Kairi. You're not!"

"And that, Riku, is exactly why you _can't_ save her!" They both pushed harder on their respective weapons.

"You'll be destroyed! You, Donald, Goofy, Lucy, and everything else! A new age is dawning, Sora! Sadly, you won't live to see this new age!"

"You're right...because it's never going to happen!" Sora then did a tricky spin move in which he successfully used the Keyblade to nudge Riku's blade from his hands. Sora, using all of the energy he'd stored up while blocking Riku's magic, thrusted the Keyblade at Riku. There was a large burst of energy and Riku was knocked back. His dark outfit disappeared in a cloud of smoke, resulting him in returning to wearing his original clothes, and his blade also disappeared. Riku hit the ground hard. He groaned in pain as he pulled himself up. Sora pointed the Keyblade at him. "It is finished, Riku."

Riku looked at Sora and then broke into a run. Within seconds, he had run up the stairs and had disappeared through one of the doors. At that moment, the doors leading into the entrance hallway opened and in walked the Beast.

"So, your heart won this battle," he said. Sora nodded. Lucy thought back to the Heartless that had impersonated Belle. "Beast...I'm sorry, about earlier."

"Don't worry yourself over that, Lucy. That Heartless was just another one of that witch's tricks!"

"You know of Maleficent?" Donald asked.

"Yes. She appeared in my world, asking for Belle. I refused to hand her over...and that's when the Heartless invaded."

"So your world fell into darkness and Maleficent stole Belle in the chaos," said Lucy.

"But she wasn't expecting me to survive the fall of my world. So, here I am. I'm ready to face her and take Belle home...that is if there will ever be a home to return to."

"There will! Once we defeat the darkness, all of the lost worlds will return to normal!" said Sora.

"We won't let ya down!" said Goofy.

"Thank you," said the Beast. "If you help me rescue Belle, as well as save my world, I will be forever in your debt."

"Don't mention it," said Lucy. "It's the right thing to do. Point, blank, period."

"Come on. Something tells me that the people we're looking for are located at the top of the castle," said Sora.

"And that means?" Donald asked.

"It means that we have a long climb ahead of us; a climb full of possible traps, enchantments, and Heartless." Donald couldn't help but let out a sigh of frustration.


	13. Message in the Library

Chapter 13: Message in the Library

Lucy pushed on the door that Riku had gone through to find something that she wasn't entirely surprised about: the door was locked.

"Great. He's locked it," said Lucy.

"There might be another switch somewhere that will allow us to unlock it," said Sora.

"That sounds like a possibility." Lucy turned and, for a moment, saw what appeared to be a ghostly image of Aslan's face pressed against one of the doors of the second floor. The face disappeared and Lucy pointed towards the door. "That's the room."

"How are you so sure about that?" the Beast asked.

"An old friend showed me the way." Before anyone could question her further, Lucy ran over to the door. Thankfully, this door wasn't locked.

On the other side of the door was a library. Lucy couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity. She had been here before, but not physically. Sora walked in and he too recognized the room. Lucy wasn't surprised by this. They had both seen the same library in a vision. Lucy looked around but there was no sign of the spot where the grandmother had been seen talking to what Lucy assumed to have been Kairi as a little girl. Sora looked like he was searching for this spot as well. The library didn't appear all that big. The bookcases lined up next to each other as if they were the walls in a hallway. There was only one corner that turned the bookcase hallway to the right and then there was a dead end. But Lucy knew that there had to be more to the room.

"Is this it?" Donald asked. Lucy turned to face him and he looked down. He was still ashamed from what he had done earlier. Lucy wanted to forgive him completely, especially since he and Goofy had helped her and Sora ward off Riku, but she still felt a little bit angry with him.

"Yes," Lucy replied with a somewhat cold tone. "The switch is in here. I know it is."

"I'm with Lucy on this one," said Sora. "I know this place."

"Is this another one of your feelings?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah. I've never been here before, but I know this place as if I visited here often." Lucy knew that Sora was only telling a half-truth. He _had_ been here before albeit only in a spiritual sense.

"But there's nothing else here! It comes to a dead end!" Donald stated.

"That may be how it appears, but not what it really is," said the Beast. "In my world, I live in a large castle. Not one as large as this but it definitely comes close. I can honestly say that it comes with its share of secrets, whether they be secret doors, trap doors, and/or hidden passageways."

"So, maybe, one of these bookcases can slide to reveal a hidden room or something of that nature," said Lucy. She began scoping out the bookcase at the dead end. All of the books appeared to be in groups of various colors. There would be a section of blue books, then a section of green, then red, then orange, then violet, and then more blue. Eventually, Lucy came across something odd. It was a dark violet book hidden away in a group of blue books. It blended in well, almost to the point where Lucy could have missed the mistake in the blink of an eye. "Can it really be that simple?" She pulled the violet book out of the bookcase and the entire thing shook. Dust fell from the top of the bookcase, obviously showing how long it had been since the trick had been last tried. The bookcase slid to the right, unveiling an entire section of the library that had been hidden away. "Found it!"

"Good work, Lucy!" Sora complimented. A yellow staircase stood a few feet away from the sliding bookcase. Lucy and Sora were about to go up to the second floor when they noticed something. Situated underneath the staircase was a simple table with a few chairs around it. This was it. This was the spot that Sora and Lucy had seen in their vision.

"Sora? Lucy? Is something wrong?" Goofy asked.

"No!" Sora then realized that Lucy was staring at the same spot that he was. Lucy shook her head and smiled.

"Nothing's wrong," she lied. "That spot just looked...familiar to me."

Sora eyed Lucy weirdly before heading up the stairs. Lucy, Donald, Goofy, and the Beast were close behind him.

There wasn't much to the second floor of the library. There were just a few bookcases, another table, a few chairs, and another dead end.

"Maybe the switch isn't here," said Donald.

"No! It is! I know it!" said Lucy and Sora together. They looked at each other awkwardly before turning away.

"How can you two be so sure about this?" the Beast asked.

"I don't know," said Sora.

"It's just a...uh...what's the word?" Lucy stammered.

"A feeling."

"Right! It's a feeling!"

"Just a feeling?" Donald asked.

"You act like that's next to nothing."

"That's because it is."

"Well, we found the rest of this library so I think we can find the switch."

"There might be another secret door located around here somewhere," said Sora.

"Gawrsh, maybe," said Goofy.

"Let's spread out and look for something," the Beast suggested.

They must have spent at least a half-hour examining the library in its entirety. Lucy walked over next to table where the grandmother had been sitting in the vision. That's when her eyes fell upon something. In the wall, there appeared to be a drawer. Lucy quickly found a small knob and pulled. Inside the drawer there was only one item: a folder.

"Now what do we have here?" Lucy asked under her breath as she picked up the folder. Only one word was written on it: _Ansem_. "Ansem? What an odd name."

Lucy opened the folder to find several journal entries stuffed inside. Lucy sat down at the table and read the first letter, which was more along the lines of a prolonged note than anything. It read:

_To My Fellow Traveler,_

_So, you have found me. You have found me tucked away deep within the bowels of my humble abode. I must give you credit for the Heartless in this area of the multiverse are quite relentless, as you may have seen by this point. I am the last one here. Everyone else has either fled or has been...taken. This is my fault. I was the monster built upon the desires of my mind to control the workings of the heart. I am sorry, if you have been affected by my actions in any negative way. I suggest that you leave immediately and go right back to the world in which you came. Hollow Bastion is no safe haven. It is the birthplace of darkness and, if not so, it is pretty damn close. If you venture further into the interior of this place, you will never see light again. Turn around and run away, unless you have some desire for death or a fate worse than that. In which case, please proceed. You will most likely meet your demise within the confines of my old home. As you read this note and the rest of my research, I am probably long gone. Where, you ask? Off to another world. But, know this. I've made an oath, a solemn promise forged on the blood of those who have fallen because of my mistakes, to which I will seek vengeance of those who wronged and betrayed me. Those who sought more than the art of study. Those who wished for power well beyond my own darkest desires. I shall destroy you and any plans that you have beyond this point. Now, my fellow traveler, I say farewell. This is your choice: turn back and live or continue on and live out the rest of eternity in the clutches of the darkness. The choice is yours. Oh, and before I go, I have a message to give. If you are not the person whom I am to give this message to, then find them and give this note to them. If you are said person, if you are in fact Lucy Pevensie of London, England, then listen carefully. I was woken up last night by something not of this world. It came not in the form of anything and yet it had a presence. It identified itself as Aslan. Aslan told me to deliver a single message to Lucy Pevensie. The message is as follows - "Beware the witches and keep close to the key. One's heart shall be lost and returned and two souls shall begin their empty lives. The __Princesses must be freed and the dark scholar must return to the depths of darkness from whence he came. Prepare for sleep and the oncoming storm. The battle shall be won, the war shall end, and then the process shall repeat." Good luck, Lucy Pevensie._

_-Ansem_

Lucy examined the note again and again. It seemed to grow longer each time she read it. Aslan had given this Ansem a message for her, probably years before any of this even began to transpire. What could the riddle mean?

"Lucy?" asked a familiar voice. Lucy nearly jumped. She looked up to see that Donald was standing a few feet away. He still couldn't look her in the eye. "Have...have you found something?"

"I think so," Lucy replied as she presented the folder to Donald. Donald sat down next to her at the table.

"Ansem?!"

"Do you know who this is?"

"Kind of. Sora, Goofy, and I have been finding his research scattered throughout various worlds."

"I guess he got lazy with keeping track of it." Donald looked at the note and his eyes widened when he came across the message for Lucy.

"Ansem...left a message for you?!"

"Not really Ansem but Aslan. Aslan knew that I'd arrive in this world at one point or another."

"But how?"

"Aslan works in mysterious ways." Lucy chuckled as she realized that what she had just said was the understatement of the century. She looked at Donald, who was looking at her sadly.

"Lucy...I-"

"You don't need to apologize, Donald. I forgive you and Goofy."

"You do?!"

"I may still be a little bit mad about what you two did but I'm willing to forgive you because of what you two did afterwards. You went against your king's wishes to protect your friend Sora."

"And you too!"

"Heh...I guess we are friends. We definitely need friends now. It's best not to be angry at each other and to hold grudges when all the darkness in the world is against you."

"That's true." Lucy and Donald laughed. Lucy then gave Donald a big hug. She followed up the hug with a quick slap.

"And if you ever abandon Sora and I again I'll pluck every feather from your body and feed you to the Beast!"

"Got it! No more abandonment!"

"Found it!" called Sora from upstairs. There was a loud click and the room shook slightly.

"Where was it?" Goofy asked.

"Behind the dead end wall. There was another bookcase switch that revealed a secret room." Lucy and Donald met Sora, Goofy, and the Beast in the middle of the first floor of the library.

"Let's go then!" said the Beast.

"What's all that?" Goofy asked as he pointed to the folder in Donald's hand.

"We'll explain on our way out of the library," Lucy replied.


	14. Long Way Up

Chapter 14: Long Way Up

The door that Riku had gone through earlier opened with ease this time. What lay beyond it looked incredibly overwhelming at first glance. Lucy, Sora, and the others found themselves staring up a tower that seemed to extend into infinity. A complex assortment of elevators and moving platforms filled up the tower from top to bottom.

"Whoa!" said Donald as his eyes widened.

"Gawrsh, how are we going to get up there?" Goofy asked.

"There must be hundreds of lifts here," said Lucy. "They all probably lead to different locations in the castle."

"We need to find out where Riku is keeping Kairi," said Sora.

"Probably at the top," said the Beast.

"Well, yes, but we need to find out the exact location. I can feel that just taking an elevator up will not get us to where we need to go."

"Especially with Maleficent involved," said Goofy.

"She's probably set up a whole bunch of traps for us!" Donald exclaimed.

"I can feel that she has. Don't you feel it? That light pull on the hairs...or feathers of your body?" Lucy asked.

"Yes. That's definitely magic," said the Beast. He sniffed the air a few times and exhaled. "I can smell the darkness too."

"Heartless. We've been lucky not to come across that many up to this point. But I have a feeling that our luck is about to run out."

"Oh boy," Donald sighed. They began making their way towards the elevators.

"So which one are we supposed to take?" Goofy asked.

"Follow the wires with your eyes," Sora suggested.

"That's nearly impossible. They keep crossing over each other," said Lucy.

"You're right." Sora let out an annoyed groan. Lucy examined the lifts closest to them carefully. There had to be a marking somewhere that said where each lift went. Then she saw it. It was a large, golden elevator with the words _Top Exterior_ written on it.

"How about that one?" Lucy pointed to it.

"It's worth a shot," said Donald. The group made their way over to the lift. Donald was the first to hop on...and that's when everything went wrong.

There were a few flashes of black light and a group of Heartless appeared a few feet away from them.

"Heartless!" Goofy exclaimed.

"Everyone, get on!" Lucy ordered. Lucy, Sora, Goofy, and the Beast hopped onto the elevator after Donald. Sora activated the switch in the center of the lift and they began to climb upwards. However, some of the Heartless that had appeared could fly. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"I got 'em!" Donald said as he pointed his staff at the Heartless. Blasts of fire and electricity shot out of the staff and at the oncoming Heartless. Some Heartless actually managed to get onto the lift but they were quickly taken care of by either Lucy, Sora, or the Beast. Some Heartless grabbed onto the sides of the lift but Goofy shoved them off with his shield. Then...the lift stopped. "Are we there yet?"

"No. We've just stopped," Sora replied. He tried activating the switch but it refused to work. They were stuck. Suddenly, the air began to become extremely cold. The Beast looked over the edge of the lift.

"Look! Down below!" he warned. Sora and Lucy looked over the edge. A cloud of black smoke was rising from the bottom of the tower. It was rising extremely quickly. For a moment, Lucy could swear that she could see a woman's face in the smoke. The smoke began sending out bolts of electricity and flashes of blue could be seen deep within the blackness.

"We're trapped!" said Goofy. Lucy looked up at the wires holding the lift and turned to Sora. From the look on his face, Lucy could tell that he was thinking the same thing that she was.

"Everybody!" cried Sora.

"Climb!" Lucy finished.

"Climb what?" Donald asked.

"The lift rope!" Lucy pointed at the rope holding the lift and Sora was the first to grab on. He held onto the rope tightly and began pulling himself up.

"We're climbing _that_?! No way! I'm not doing it!"

"Would you prefer the alternative?" Lucy pointed down at the black cloud and Donald gulped.

"On second thought...wait for me, Sora!" Donald then grabbed onto the rope and began climbing. Lucy went after Donald, Goofy went after Lucy, and the Beast was the last to grab on after Goofy. Pretty soon, they were all high above the lift in which they had come from. The smoke was continuing to rise towards them.

"Almost there!" said Sora.

"Hurry up!" Donald ordered.

"I'm climbing as fast as I can!"

"Don't look down!" Goofy warned. Lucy suddenly heard Donald yelp in fear.

"You looked down, didn't you?" she asked.

"Maybe," Donald whimpered.

"Keep going! The smoke is not too far beneath us!" the Beast warned.

"I made it!" Lucy heard Sora say from up above. Lucy looked up just in time to see Sora help pull Donald to safety. He then extended his hand down to her. "Come on! Just a few more feet!"

Lucy pulled herself up and up until she finally managed to grab a hold of Sora's hand. She couldn't help but sigh with relief as she was pulled onto solid ground. Goofy and the Beast arrived not too long after her.

"We need to keep going!" said Goofy. "It's still coming after us!"

Lucy looked down to see that the smoke had already passed up the lift they had previously been riding. She then turned around and noticed a set of double doors.

"Through there!" she said. Thankfully, these doors were unlocked.

On the other side of the doors was a pathway that ran along the upper exterior of the castle. It was incredibly windy and chilly.

"It's cold!" Donald exclaimed.

"Then let's try to get back inside as soon as possible!" the Beast replied. They began making their way along the pathway. Lucy remained on guard and had her sword unsheathed for good measure. Heartless could appear at any moment. Then...she felt it. A sickening feeling rolled over her. Something was wrong, even more so that how it previously had been. For some reason, Lucy felt that there was something else hunting them than just Maleficent the witch and the Heartless. Something else was here in Hollow Bastion. Something...incredibly and purely dark. Lucy turned to Sora and he looked back at her. She could tell that he felt the same thing.

"You feel it too...don't you?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied. "What do you think it is?"

"It's definitely not good."

"I was able to work that much out for myself, thank you very much." Then the castle shook.

"What's that?!" Donald asked.

"Something's awakening," said the Beast. "I can feel it. Something dark is awakening...and we're incredibly close to it."

"We'll stop it! Whatever it is!" Sora exclaimed. He then broke into a run, Lucy, Donald, Goofy, and the Beast ran after him.

They eventually found a door that led back into the castle. A small group of Heartless was waiting for them on the other side but they made short work of them. They were getting close now. Lucy could feel it. She could practically smell the magic in the air. It wasn't good magic, though. It was incredibly powerful dark magic. It was a type of magic that Lucy hadn't come across since the reign of the White Witch during her first trip to Narnia.

_I wonder if she's here_, Lucy thought to herself. _Why am I thinking of her? I shouldn't be thinking of her! This feeling I have, this magic that I and the others feel, it's too similar to how Jadis made me feel when I saw her. Could this Maleficent character have any relations to the White Witch?! Well, they are witches so that's one connection. Dark magic is dark magic, I suppose. No matter what world it comes from, it gives off the same feelings of despair and fear._

The castle shook again. The Beast was right. Something was indeed awakening. Was it a creature, an energy source, a doorway, or what? They would find out soon enough. More Heartless greeted them as they continued their trek through the castle. They eventually came across a spiral staircase. A sign that read _Chapel and Sanctuary_ was situated by the staircase.

"They must be up there," said Lucy.

"They are. I can feel it," said Sora. "I...I can hear her."

Lucy looked at Sora oddly and then looked up the staircase. She was shocked to find that she could hear something too. It sounded like a mix between a melody and a plea for help. Something was calling them up there.

"Let's go already!" said Donald as he took off. Lucy, Sora, Goofy, and the Beast ran up the staircase after Donald. They reached the top quickly, after fending off a fair number of Heartless along the way. A large, black door welcomed them. Sora was the one to open it.

A long, blue-gray hallway greeted them. It was made of old stone and its walls and floor were covered in ruins. Oddly-colored fires burned on torches all around them. The hallway ended in a medium-sized, circular room. Two doors could be seen. One had the word _Chapel_ on it and the other had the word _Sanctuary_ on it. Somebody was standing in between the two doors. It was a woman with gray skin, red lips, and green eyes. She wore a purple/black cloak over her body as well as horns on her head. Her fingernails were long and in one of her hands she held a staff with a green tip. Lucy didn't need to be told who this was, for she was able to figure it out for herself. This was her. This was Maleficent.


	15. The Dragon in the Chapel

Chapter 15: The Dragon in the Chapel

"I'm afraid you're too late," said Maleficent the witch. She had a cold voice that made Lucy's skin crawl. "Any moment now, the final keyhole will be unsealed. This world will be plunged into darkness. It is, simply, unstoppable. Not even you can stop it, _Queen_ Lucy of Narnia."

Lucy was caught off guard by Maleficent's knowledge of who she was. How could she know who she was?! They had never met before!

"We _will_ stop it!" Sora stated as he pointed the Keyblade at Maleficent. "After coming this far, there's no way we're going to let that happen!"

The Beast roared in agreement as Lucy, Donald, and Goofy readied their weapons.

"You poor, simple fools!" stated Maleficent. "You think you can defeat _me_?! Me, the mistress of all evil?!"

Maleficent raised her arms and the chunk of the floor that she was standing on suddenly rose into the air. The bottom of the floor chunk began to glow green and the whole thing began moving through the air. Blasts of green energy began emanating from the floor chunk. Lucy dodged some of the blasts and deflected others with her sword. Maleficent raised her staff and a cloud of black energy hovered above them. Bolts of electricity rained down on them. Donald fired a fireball at the witch but an invisible, magical shield protected her.

"We can't hit her!" Donald exclaimed as he shot several fireballs at her.

"There must be some way!" said Lucy. Goofy threw his shield at the witch but it, like Donald's fireballs, was simply deflected. Maleficent laughed as she then sent a barrage a meteors flying towards them. Lucy dodged the attack but fell onto her back in the process. Sora charged for the witch but his attack was deflected. Then, Lucy noticed something. Sora's attack, while prevented from hurting Maleficent, caused damage to the platform she was on. "The platform!"

"What about it?" the Beast asked.

"It's not protected! Attack the platform!" Lucy stood up and grabbed her sword. She charged for the platform, dodging Maleficent's attacks in the process, and swiped it. A large chunk fell off and hit the ground with a loud _boom_. Maleficent sent a lightning bolt at Lucy but she used her sword for protection. Donald began sending a series of fireballs at the platform while Lucy, Sora, and the Beast attacked it from the ground. Maleficent conjured a massive fireball and threw it at the Beast. It was a direct hit and the Beast was thrown back down the hallway.

"Beast!" Sora cried. The Beast got up. He had managed to survive the witch's attack with minor injuries.

"Heartless! Come to my aid!" Maleficent ordered. A group of Heartless appeared and surrounded the Beast.

"I'll help him!" said Goofy as he charged at the Heartless with his shield. Lucy and Sora backed away from Maleficent. The witch laughed as she began shooting a barrage of green fireballs at them. Donald used his staff to create a protective barrier around him, Lucy, and Sora.

"What do we do now?!" Donald asked.

"That platform's weak! It looks like it needs one more hit to be taken down!" Lucy replied.

"A really powerful one at that," Sora added as the platform began spewing electrical blasts at them. Donald dismissed the shield at the right moment and sent several electrical blasts firing back at Maleficent. They were deflected by her protective barrier but she appeared to be weakening.

"I grow tired of this!" Maleficent snapped. She raised one of her hands and Sora began levitating in the air.

"Sora!" Donald cried. Lucy charged for the platform and smashed her sword into it. It wasn't enough to destroy it, though. Sora began to choke and Maleficent began laughing. Then a loud roar shook the room. The Beast jumped past the Heartless and charged for Maleficent. He flew over Lucy and drove his claws deep into the platform. The platform broke apart, Maleficent fell to the ground, and Sora was freed from Maleficent's grasp. Lucy watched as the Beast drove one of claws deep into Maleficent. She groaned in pain and sent the Beast flying back with her staff. The injured Maleficent screamed in anger as she made her way into the chapel. The Heartless that Goofy had been battling disappeared.

"Come on!" said Sora. "This isn't over yet."

"What about the Beast?" Donald asked. The Beast was lying against the wall, unconscious. Lucy pulled out her cordial and let one drop fall into his mouth. He injuries began healing automatically.

"He'll be fine," said Lucy. "But he needs to rest for a bit."

"He can rest while we take care of Maleficent," said Sora.

"We can't leave him out here by himself," said Goofy.

"Sora and I will take care of Maleficent then," Lucy stated. "Goofy, you and Donald watch over the Beast."

"Are you sure?" Donald asked.

"She's injured. We can take her. Right, Sora?"

"Right!" Sora replied.

"Be careful," said Goofy.

"We'll be as careful as we possibly can in dealing with an evil witch," said Lucy with a smirk. Lucy gulped as she and Sora ran into the chapel after Maleficent.

It was obvious that the chapel had not been used in a while. The floor was chipped, the ceiling had holes in it, and several tree roots were wrapped around the walls. Maleficent was stumbling forward. She looked incredibly weak.

"Does...does it make us as bad as her if we attack her while she's in such a weak state?" Lucy suddenly asked.

"I see what you're getting at, Lucy, but we have to finish this. Remember what she's done," Sora replied. Lucy and Sora began approaching her when, suddenly, a black portal appeared out of nowhere. Out of it emerged Riku. He was back in his dark outfit but something was off. Lucy could tell that something was different about him. Riku turned to Maleficent.

"Need some help?" he asked. His voice sounded different too. It sounded as though a second voice were speaking alongside his own. Sora approached his ex-friend.

"Riku," he said. Lucy then realized that Riku had a weapon in his hand. It was black and red but it wasn't the weapon he had earlier. It looked an awful lot like the Keyblade.

"Is...is that what I think it is?" Lucy asked as she pointed at Riku's weapon. Riku smiled and chuckled.

"Is is: a Keyblade," he replied. "But unlike yours, Sora, this Keyblade has the power to unlock people's hearts."

"Unlock people's hearts?" Sora asked.

"Yes. Allow me to demonstrate." He turned to face Maleficent. "Behold!" With a swift motion, he imbedded the Keyblade deep into Maleficent's chest. Black energy began flowing into the wound in her chest. "Now, open your heart, surrender it to the darkness! Become darkness itself!"

Riku then pulled the dark Keyblade out of Maleficent and disappeared through another black portal. For a moment, Maleficent was silent. Then, she began to laugh. Her entire body began to glow with a green aura.

"This is it! This power!" she exclaimed. "Darkness...the true DARKNESS!"

Maleficent then exploded into a a column of green flames. Lucy and Sora were pushed back by the force. The heat was intense.

"Sora! What's happening?!" Lucy asked.

"I don't know! But get ready to fight!" Sora replied as he readied the Keyblade. The flames soon disappeared and Lucy's eyes widened. Standing in Maleficent's place was a huge black and purple dragon with green eyes. Flames were shooting out of its nostrils and a long, red, forked tongue hung out of its mouth, which was home of tons of sharp teeth.

"Is...is that-"

"Maleficent!" Maleficent the dragon roared and raised her forelegs. "Lucy, look out!"

Lucy jumped as Maleficent brought her legs down. She just barely managed to dodge the dragon's attack. The dragon then began banging her claws into the ground. The entire chapel shook and pieces of rock fell from the ceiling. Lucy dodged the falling debris as she tried to edge herself towards the dragon.

"Now what do we do?!" Lucy asked as Maleficent shot a plume of fire at her and Sora. Lucy ran back to Sora and Sora used to Keyblade to conjure up a temporary shield to keep the flames away from him and Lucy.

"I...I don't know! I wasn't expecting _this_!" Sora replied.

"Well...a dark Keyblade created this monster. Maybe your Keyblade is the key to destroying it!"

"It's not like we have anything else, right?"

"Right! Okay, Sora. Here's the plan. I'll distract Maleficent and you edge your way towards her! Aim for the head!"

"Why the head?"

"I've had some experience with dragons in Narnia and it's best to decapitate them."

"Okay, you're the expert. Just don't get burned or eaten!"

"I'll try my best!"

The shield disappeared and Sora yelled, "Go!"

Lucy readied her sword and began dancing and skipping around in front of Maleficent.

"Come and get me, you...you old codfish!" Lucy screamed. Maleficent roared in return. "You can't get me! You're just a silly lizard! That's all you are now, Maleficent! A weak, pathetic, liz-"

Lucy's insults were met with an oncoming fireball. She dodged the attack but her dress was singed slightly. She then charged at the dragon. Lucy's heart nearly did a backflip as she quickly found herself a foot away from Maleficent's mouth. She slashed her sword and cut the dragon's face. Blood began oozing from the injury and Maleficent opened her mouth in an attempt to eat Lucy. Lucy managed to effectively dodge Maleficent's attack. Lucy looked for Sora but saw that the Keyblade wielder had disappeared. Maleficent shot several fireballs at Lucy and she dodged each one. This proved to be an advantage for Lucy as each fireball let off a large cloud of smoke when it collided with the ground. Soon, the entire chapel was filled with black smoke and green flames. Maleficent was unable to see Lucy in the smoke, but Lucy was able to find Maleficent easily due to her green eyes shining through the smoke. Lucy charged at Maleficent and swiped at Maleficent's face several more times. Some of the attacks missed but a few were direct hits. Maleficent sent more fire at Lucy but she had become an expert at dodging fire attacks. Maleficent then began banging her claws on the ground. The room shook again and Lucy fell to the ground. A large chunk of rock fell from the ceiling and nearly squashed Lucy. Lucy was slightly disoriented by the shaking of the room and quickly saw Maleficent's dragon face bearing down on her. Lucy reached for her sword but saw that it had been knocked out of her hand during the shaking.

"Where are you, Sora?!" Lucy asked as she began crawling towards her sword. Maleficent moved forward. Lucy could see her reflection in Maleficent's green eyes now. "SORA!"

Then, a flash of light erupted from behind Maleficent's head. Maleficent let out a roar of pain and then her eyes closed. Smoke and fire stopped coming out of her nostrils and the dragon head fell to the ground with a loud _thud_. She had been decapitated. The head of Maleficent and the rest of her body then disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke. Once the smoke cleared, Lucy saw Sora standing in the middle of the chapel. Maleficent's cloak and staff, which was useless now, were lying on the ground nearby.

"That wasn't too hard," said Sora as he leaned over to catch his breath.

"What happened to you?" Lucy asked as she approached him. "I thought you went and disappeared on me."

"No. While you distracted Maleficent, I circled around and climbed onto her back. I slowly made my way to the neck and drove the Keyblade down."

"You did it at just the right moment. I was about to become that dragon's next meal!"

"It was no problem. We better hurry. The fight's not over yet." Sora then looked down and sighed.

"Right...Riku."

"Something's not right."

"I know. Riku seemed colder than he usually is. I think something's inside him."

"You mean he's possessed?"

"I wouldn't doubt it. Did you hear his voice? It sounded like there were two people talking at once. Maybe that's the presence we've been feeling. It's inside Riku now."

"We've got to save him!"

"But what if we can't? What if that thing is in him permanently?"

"Then...let's not think of that."

"Right. Let's get out of here then." Lucy and Sora began making their way out of the chapel when, suddenly, another black portal appeared.

"Riku?" Sora asked. However, it was not Riku who emerged from the portal but a cloaked figure. The figure walked towards them and phased right through Sora as if he were a ghost. The figure walked a few feet away before turning around. A ball of energy began forming in his hands.

"Sora! Look out!" Lucy cried. The figure then shot a large ball of power at Sora. It moved at incredible speeds and had reached Sora in the blink of an eye. However, Sora managed to deflect the ball of energy with the Keyblade. The energy ball flew up into the ceiling and smashed into it. The tree roots scattered throughout the room disappeared in small bursts of green fire.

"Interesting," said the figure. Lucy could tell that it was man from his voice.

"Who are you and what do you want?!" Sora asked.

"I wanted to see how powerful you were. You proved to be quite...entertaining."

"Are you one of Maleficent's allies?!" Lucy asked.

"Maleficent? I can assure you that I'm no friend of her."

"Then who are you? Are you a friend or an enemy to us?"

"Neither. Just consider me as...nothing."

"Nothing?" Sora asked.

"Exactly. I'm nothing. I'm nobody." Lucy and Sora fell silent for a moment. "I best be on my way. We'll meet again someday, Chosen Wielder of the Keyblade. And I'll meet you again too, Queen Lucy the Valiant." Another black portal appeared. "Oh, and be careful. Maleficent isn't the last witch that you have to worry about on this quest of yours."

With that said, the cloaked man disappeared through the portal. Lucy and Sora remained speechless for a moment.

"Who do you think that was?" Sora asked.

"I honestly have no idea," Lucy replied.


	16. Ansem and Aslan

Chapter 16: Ansem and Aslan

Lucy and Sora were still thinking about the mysterious, cloaked man when they joined back up with Donald, Goofy, and the Beast.

"Gawrsh, are you two all right?!" asked Goofy.

"We could be better," Lucy replied.

"What...what happened to Maleficent?" asked the Beast.

"Riku, who's possessed by some dark force, turned her into a dragon and Sora decapitated her."

"Oh," said Donald.

"Come on," said Sora as he began walking towards the door that led to the sanctuary. "We need to find Kairi and stop Riku."

Everyone nodded and followed Sora through the doorway.

They walked through a hallway that was situated on the castle exterior. They climbed a small flight of stairs before walking through another door, which led back into the castle. They walked down another hallway which led to a large pair of doors.

"How do we open them?" Donald asked. "There's no handle!" Sora walked forward and pressed his hand against the doors. They slowly slid open. "Oh...like that."

"How did you know to do that?" Goofy asked.

"I don't know. The thought just came to me," Sora replied. They walked into the next area.

A large, purple rug sat on the floor in front of them. The symbol of the Heartless was knit into it. There were six pots in the room, three on the right and three on the left, and they were all emitting giant, blue flames. Then they noticed them. Imbedded into the walls were what appeared to be glass tubes. There were six tubes, three on the right and three on the left. Inside each tube was a woman.

"There's Alice!" Sora exclaimed as he pointed at the girl with blonde hair and a blue dress.

"There's Jasmine!" Goofy exclaimed as he pointed at the dark-skinned woman with black hair and a blue, desert-styled outfit.

"Belle!" the Beast exclaimed as he ran towards a tube that contained the woman with brown hair and a golden evening gown.

"There's six of them," Lucy exclaimed.

"Who are the others aside from Alice, Jasmine, and Belle?" Goofy asked. Jiminy suddenly appeared.

"I remember reading something about them at the castle," he said. "That's Cinderella." He pointed at the blonde woman in a white evening gown. "That's Snow White." He pointed at the black-haired woman in a yellow and blue dress. "And that's Aurora." He pointed at the woman with long, blonde hair and a purple dress. "I wonder what they're doing here."

Lucy suddenly thought back to something Riku had said to Wendy in Neverland.

"The Princesses," she said.

"What was that?" Donald asked.

"I remember something Riku said back in Neverland. He was going to drop Wendy off because she wasn't one of the Princesses. He said that Maleficent was searching for these Princesses for some reason. Maybe these are them."

"Alice, Jasmine, Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, and Aurora," said Goofy.

"The Princesses of Heart," said Sora. "There's seven of them."

"Sora...how do you know that?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know. The thought just popped into my head!"

"So there's seven of them. But there's only six here. Where's the seventh?" Sora turned and looked towards the adjoining room. He could just make out the image of a multicolored heart with an electric ball in the center of it.

"We're about to find out." Sora then took off towards the next room.

"I'll stay with Belle," said the Beast.

"You do that," said Lucy as she, Donald, and Goofy ran after Sora.

Lucy followed Sora up the stairs to the next level of the room. Just as they made it to the next level, however, an invisible barrier appeared and prevented Donald and Goofy from following Sora and Lucy.

"What's this?!" Donald asked. Sora then gasped. Lucy looked and saw Kairi lying on the ground a few feet away. Sora ran to her side. He knelt down and held her in his arms.

"Kairi! Kairi! Open your eyes!" Sora cried.

"It's no use," said a familiar voice. Lucy and Sora looked up to see Riku sitting on a raised platform. "That girl has lost her heart. She cannot wake up."

"No."

"I'm sorry, Sora," said Lucy. Sora then turned towards Riku.

"You're not Riku. I know it."

"The Keyhole cannot be completed so long as the last Princess of Heart still sleeps," said Riku. He then proceeded to slowly levitate himself down to the ground, right in front of the Keyhole.

"So, Kairi's the seventh Princess of Heart," said Lucy.

"Yes, and without her power, the Keyhole will remain incomplete. It is time she awakened."

"Whoever you are, let Riku go! Give him back his heart!" Sora ordered.

"Certainly...but first, you must give the Princess back _her_ heart!"

"What?" Sora asked. Suddenly, a flash of light burst from Sora's chest and he fell down onto his hands and knees.

"Sora!" Lucy cried. She reached down and touched Sora. Just then, the entire room faded around her.

Lucy suddenly found herself standing on a beach. She was alone. It was beautiful beach. The sun had just set and now the sky was growing dark. Lucy watched as a young Sora and Riku ran along the beach together. As soon as the sky grew dark, a series of blue comets began rocketing across the sky.

"It's beautiful," said Lucy. Just then, one of the comets came spiraling towards the ground. It was headed straight for the beach. Just before it hit the ground, however, it stopped. Lucy looked at the comet. It appeared to be made of glass and something was inside it. The comet disappeared and something fell onto the beach. Lucy walked forward. It was a little girl. Lucy quickly identified the girl as a young Kairi. "Kairi."

She was conscious but she was about to black out.

"Radiant...radiant," she said. Lucy knelt down next to her. "Radiant...hollow. Hollow...garden. Bastion...hollow. Hollow Bastion."

Kairi then lost consciousness and the world around Lucy faded away. She suddenly found herself standing in a dark cave. Sora was there. A ball of white light was floating next to what appeared to be a door with no handle.

"Kairi!" Sora exclaimed. The door opened and the ball of light flew at Sora. It phased right into his chest and Sora was pushed out of the cave by a series of powerful winds coming from the open doorway.

The scene faded and Lucy found herself back in Hollow Bastion. She was still holding onto the weakened Sora.

"Sora!" Donald cried.

"Are you all right?!" Goofy called.

"Don't you see yet?!" asked the possessed Riku. "The Princess's heart is responding. It has been there all along. Kairi's heart rests within you!"

"Kairi's...inside me?" Sora asked.

"I know all that there is to know."

"Then tell us! Who are you?!" Lucy asked. Riku chuckled.

"It is I, Ansem, the seeker of darkness!"

"It can't be."

"But it is, Queen Lucy."

"How does everybody here know about me?!"

"A little bird told me." Lucy stood up and readied her sword. Ansem began walking towards her and Sora. The dark Keyblade was in his hand. "Now, it is time for Kairi's heart to be freed."

"There's no way I'm going to let you hurt Sora, or Kairi!" Lucy charged at Ansem. Their weapons met and they struggled for a few seconds. Ansem broke the connection and tried to stab Lucy. Lucy stepped to the side and shoved the hilt of her sword into Ansem's face. She managed to bruise it a bit but it was hardly enough to weaken him.

"Enough! I have no time for this! The Keyhole must be unsealed!" Ansem then, at incredibly speeds, shot a lightning bolt at Lucy. Lucy was caught off guard and was thrown back. She hit the ground hard and her sword rolled out of her hand. She tried to get up but she was too weakened by the attack. Ansem was now standing over Sora. The dark Keyblade was raised. "So, I shall release you now, Princess. Complete the Keyhole with your power. Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!"

"No...Sora," Lucy groaned. Ansem brought the Keyblade down. Suddenly a voice rang out.

"Sora!" cried a girl's voice. It seemed that only Lucy and Sora had heard it. Sora jumped up and blocked Ansem's attack with his own Keyblade.

"Forget it!" Sora snapped. "There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!"

"Fool!" cried Ansem. "The Keyhole _will_ be completed!"

Sora swung his Keyblade at Ansem and Ansem jumped back. Ansem returned the favor by shooting a ball of energy at Sora. Sora dodged it. Pretty soon, Sora and Ansem were caught up in a heated battle. Lucy tried to move again but she was still weak. She slowly began losing consciousness.

"Sora...Kairi...Aslan," Lucy said as she passed out.

Lucy found herself back on the beach. This time, it was nighttime. There was a full moon and its reflection was beautiful in the ocean water. Lucy looked out at the water and noticed something. Just a little ways off, a lifeless body was floating on the surface of the water.

"Hello?! Are you okay?!" Lucy called. There was no response. Lucy then ran straight into the water. It was weird. It felt like water and she felt like she was swimming in water but she didn't feel wet. She waded out into the water until she came across the floating body. It was Kairi. "Kairi?!"

Kairi looked at Lucy.

"Hello, Lucy Pevensie," she said. "I see you've found me."

"What...what is this place?"

"Destiny Islands, or rather a copy of it. This is where I've been this whole time."

"Are we...are we inside Sora?"

"I am. You're more or less being shown the inside of Sora's heart."

"So, his home lies at the center of his heart."

"I think it's fitting of him."

"But...how am I seeing this?"

"You seem to have a connection to Sora and to me. I think _he's_ responsible for it."

"Who?"

"That lion on the beach." Lucy turned around and saw a great lion standing right in the middle of the beach. He was staring out towards the endless horizon.

"Aslan."

"Yes. He's been there for a while. Hasn't said anything. He just sits there, waiting."

"Has he talked to you or-"

"No. He just waits there." Kairi fell silent. "I'll probably forget about my time here once I awaken."

"You don't have to wait too long until that happens, Kairi."

"The Keyhole needs to be completed, Lucy. It will only be completed if my heart returns to my body." Kairi fell silent again. Lucy was beginning to feel uneasy.

"Wait a moment...what are you getting at here, Kairi?"

"Sora's going to have to free my heart, and in order to do that he's going to have to-"

"You've said enough, my child," said a warm, powerful voice. Lucy turned to see that Aslan was wading in the water right next to her. He placed a paw on top of Kairi's chest. "Sleep some more and prepare to awaken."

He then pushed Kairi under the water. Lucy watched as Kairi disappeared into the murky depths of the ocean. She turned to face Aslan.

"Aslan," she said. The lion turned to face her.

"You have been brave, Lucy, but the battle will not end here in Hollow Bastion. There is more to be done," he said.

"But...did Kairi mean that-"

"Do not worry yourself about Kairi and Sora. Everything will turn out fine in the end."

"Are you sure?"

"Do you doubt my words?"

"No...I don't doubt you, Aslan."

"Good. Now it's time for you to awaken. This is not Ansem's final stand." Aslan placed a paw on top of Lucy's head. "And, one more thing, beware of the witch."

"Is this the other witch that the cloaked man was talking about? Who was that cloaked man anyway? Were you the one who gave my dagger and cordial to Peter Pan? Why is my dagger a sword? How-"

"You have many questions, child. Do not worry. They will all be answered in due time." And with that Aslan pushed Lucy down under the water. The ocean swirled around her and Lucy felt like she was being sucked down into a vortex. She spun faster and faster until the feeling of cracked stone under her side returned to her. She had awoken and, from what she could see, Sora had won the fight.


	17. Sora's Sacrifice

Chapter 17: Sora's Sacrifice

The Ansem-possessed Riku disappeared in a flash of black light.

"Riku!" Sora cried. But it was too late. Riku was gone and all that was left was the dark Keyblade that he had possessed. Lucy lifted herself off the ground and approached Sora. Her body still ached from the lightning attack but at least she could walk. The invisible barrier apparently was gone as Donald and Goofy were able to enter the second level of the room now.

"What happened to him?" Lucy asked.

"Who are you talking about? Riku or Ansem?" Goofy asked.

"Both, I guess."

"They have to still be alive. Riku _has_ to still be alive!" said Sora. Just then, the entire room shook and a few sparks of electricity shot out of the unfinished Keyhole. "We better deal with that first."

Sora walked up to the Keyhole and pointed the Keyblade at it. Nothing happened.

"What?!" asked Donald.

"It won't close!" said Goofy.

"Didn't the Keyhole need to be opened with the power of the seven Princesses of Heart?" Lucy asked. She turned towards Kairi. "The Keyhole's unfinished because we're one princess short."

"So, the Keyhole will be finished once we wake Kairi up and then we can seal it."

"But how?" Sora asked as he placed his hand against his chest. "Kairi's heart's inside me."

"There must be a way to free it," said Lucy. Sora looked towards the dark Keyblade left behind by Riku/Ansem.

"I think I know how." Sora then began walking towards the dark Keyblade.

"Sora?" Goofy asked. Sora bent down and picked up the Keyblade. Lucy suddenly flashed back to what Riku/Ansem had said earlier.

"_This Keyblade has the power to unlock people's hearts_," he had said. Lucy's eyes went wide.

"Sora, hold on!" Lucy cried. "There must be another way!"

Sora turned to face Lucy, Donald, and Goofy. He gave a large grin before giving a saddened expression. He turned the Keyblade around, aiming the blade at his chest.

"Sora!" Goofy cried.

"No, wait!" Donald cried as he began running towards Sora.

"I'm sorry," Sora said. He then shoved the blade into his chest. There was a bright flash of light. The dark Keyblade floated up into the air and disintegrated into six balls of light. The balls of light floated off towards the hall that held the other six princesses. Two more balls of light then floated out of Sora. One disappeared into thin air while the other floated over to Kairi. It phased into her chest and her eyes instantly flung open. The Keyhole let out a loud ring as it finally completed itself with the power of the Princesses of Heart. Sora began to give off a golden glow and falling towards the ground.

"SORA! SORA!" Donald cried as he ran towards his dying friend. Kairi stood up and looked just in time to see Sora.

"Sora!" she exclaimed as she ran towards him. She was about to wrap her arms around him when Sora suddenly disappeared in an explosion of golden sparks. The sparks then proceeded to fly up towards the darkened ceiling high above them.

"SORA! COME BACK, SORA!"

Then, everything went silent. Lucy and Goofy walked towards the spot where Sora had been. Jiminy, who had been in Sora's hood, was on the ground. Donald picked him up.

"Sora," said a saddened Goofy. Tears were beginning to form in Donald and Goofy's eyes. Lucy felt her eyes watering up. She was in shock. Was Sora really gone?

"It can't be," Lucy said under her breath.

"Sora?" Kairi asked. "Are you really...no! I won't let him go!" She then turned towards Lucy, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy. "You're...Donald, Goofy, Lucy, and Jiminy right?"

"You know us?" Donald asked.

"I _was_ inside Sora."

"Do you remember Aslan and the ocean?" Lucy asked suddenly.

"I...what? Who's Aslan?" Lucy remembered how the Kairi in her vision had said that she wouldn't remember most of her time within Sora once her heart was restored.

"It's a long story...but, first, we need to find Sora."

"But how?" Goofy asked. "He...he basically just lost his heart to the darkness. How can we find him?"

"I haven't known Sora for very long, but I can tell that he's someone who won't be defeated so easily. He's out there...somewhere."

"And we're going to find him!" said Kairi.

"How very touching," said a cold voice. Lucy, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi looked to see a man with dark skin, white hair, golden eyes, and an odd assortment of clothes standing before them. "It's nice to see that you have finally awakened at last, Princess. But the Keyhole is now complete. You have served your purpose."

"Are...are you Ansem?" Lucy asked.

"Why indeed I am, Queen Lucy. And they said that Queen Susan was the logical one." Lucy gasped at Ansem's remark. She wanted to ask about how he knew about her, let alone both her and her sister, but another question popped into her head.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you suddenly the seeker of darkness? Why would you leave this message behind for me if you were the seeker of the darkness?!" Lucy reached into her pocket and presented the message she had found in the library. Ansem looked confused.

"What are you talking about? I haven't left a message for anyone, especially you."

"But...then who-"

"Enough of this!" Ansem then began making his way towards them.

"Don't make another move!" Donald ordered as he raised his staff. Ansem simply smiled and chuckled as he continued walking towards them.

"Do you think we can take him on all by ourselves?" Goofy whispered as he pushed Kairi behind him.

"I don't know," Donald whispered back. Ansem then suddenly stopped and began shaking.

"Impossible!" he groaned. Suddenly, a figure surrounded by a golden aura appeared in front of Ansem. It was Riku.

"No! You...you won't use me for this!" Riku snapped. He placed himself in between Ansem and the others.

"Riku!" said Kairi.

"You've got to get out of here! The Heartless are coming!"

"Riku," Lucy sighed.

"Just go!" A group of Heartless began surrounding them. "RUN!"

Donald grabbed Kairi's hand and led her down the stairs. Lucy and Goofy followed them in hot pursuit. As they ran through the adjoining room, Lucy realized that the other Princesses of Heart had disappeared.

"Where did the other princesses go?!" Lucy asked.

"We can worry about that later! Right now, we need to get out of here!" Donald replied. Lucy looked back for a moment. Riku had saved them. For a split second, the old Riku had returned. The Riku that Sora had been friends with long ago. A Riku that Lucy wanted to save.

"We'll save you Riku. You and Sora." Lucy then turned around and followed Donald, Goofy, and Kairi out of the sanctuary.

The next few minutes were a blur. Lucy, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi made their way through the castle's corridors and down the staircases at lightning speed. Loads of Heartless were popping up all over the place.

"What about the Keyhole?!" Goofy asked suddenly as they made their way down another flight of stairs.

"We can deal with that once we find Sora!" Lucy replied.

"_If _we find him," Donald added sadly.

"We will! I know it!" Kairi stated.

Eventually, they made it back to the entrance hall. The Heartless would be catching up to them soon. For a moment, Kairi hesitated.

"Kairi, come on!" Goofy called.

"We can't leave Riku behind!" she said suddenly.

"We can only save him once we save Sora!" said Lucy. Kairi nodded and they made their way towards the door. Unfortunately, it was locked.

"Not again!" Donald groaned.

"There's a Heartless following us!" Goofy said as he pointed towards the door they had come from. A single shadow Heartless was running down the steps.

"I'll take care of this one!" Donald readied his staff as the Heartless ran towards them. Then...it stopped. Donald was confused at first but then he waved his staff madly. "Confounded Heartless! Get lost, will ya?!"

The Heartless remained still. It simply stood there, looking at them. Lucy felt that there was something different about this Heartless. Its eyes looked more sad than anything.

"What's wrong with it? How come it's not attacking us?" Lucy asked. Kairi stepped forward.

"Sora? Is that you?" she asked. Lucy looked at the Heartless closely. For some reason, she felt like she knew the Heartless.

"What are you talking about?" Donald asked.

"I...I think that's Sora!"

"Can it be?" Lucy asked. Suddenly, a crowd of Heartless appeared around them.

"Heartless!" Goofy cried. Lucy, Donald, and Goofy began fending off the oncoming Heartless with their weapons.

"This time, I'll protect you!" Kairi said as she stood in front of the odd Heartless. Several Heartless then lunged at Kairi. Kairi turned around and hugged the Heartless. "SORA!"

"Kairi!" Lucy cried. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and the Heartless surrounding Kairi had disappeared. Lucy's eyes widened. Kairi was no longer holding onto a Heartless. She was holding onto a boy with brown, spiky hair.

"Kairi...thank you," said Sora.

"Sora!" Kairi exclaimed.

"Sora!" cried Donald and Goofy. Sora then turned towards Lucy. She was still staring in shock.

"Am I not going to get anything from you, Lucy?" Sora asked with a smirk. Lucy felt her eyes watering up again. She smiled, ran forward, and hugged Sora.

"I knew we'd find you!" she exclaimed. "Though we found you sooner than I thought we would."

"Now we can save Riku and seal the Keyhole!" said Kairi.

"Riku's still alive?!" Sora asked.

"Yes...but-" A new group of Heartless appeared. "They won't stop coming!"

"It's the Keyhole. Heartless are pouring out of it!" Goofy exclaimed.

"The Keyhole to Darkness. It certainly lives up to its name," said Lucy. Just then, a loud roar shook the room. The Beast jumped from the second floor balcony and took out most of the Heartless.

"Beast!" said Sora.

"Go! The Heartless are coming!" he said.

"Come with us!"

"I told you! I'm not leaving without Belle!"

"What happened to her? What happened to the other princesses?" Lucy asked.

"They're all safe. I've made sure of that. Now go!" He then tossed a key to them. It was the key to the locked door before them. Sora picked up the key and unlocked the door.

"We'll return, Beast," said Sora. "We'll return to save you and the princesses and to seal the Keyhole. I promise."

"We all do," said Lucy. The Beast smiled and then roared again as more Heartless appeared. Lucy, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi then made quick haste outside so that they could teleport to the Gummi Ship.


	18. Traverse Town

Chapter 18: Traverse Town

Lucy couldn't help but give a sigh of relief as she and the others arrived in the middle of the Gummi Ship. Donald rushed to his seat and instantly sent the the ship flying away from Hollow Bastion as fast as possible.

"So, where are we going now?" Lucy asked.

"Traverse Town," Donald replied.

"Traverse Town? That's an odd name."

"It's a place for people who have lost their worlds to the darkness to stay. I ended up there after Destiny Islands was lost," Sora replied. Kairi grabbed her head and leaned back against the wall. "Kairi?! Are you okay?"

"There's just...so much to take in," she replied. She looked at Sora and smiled. "You're back." Then she collapsed onto the floor.

"She needs to rest. Being released from another body and returned to her own only to have her friend die and brought back to life is a lot to take in," said Lucy. Sora turned to Lucy and hugged her. She hugged him back. "What...what was it like? Being a Heartless?"

"I don't remember much. I just remember falling into darkness. I felt so sad and lost. Then...I heard a voice: Kairi's voice. She was calling my name. She brought me back from the darkness," Sora replied. He looked down at Kairi and smiled. "She saved me."

Lucy and the others spent the next hour and a half in silence. Sora was somewhat weakened from suddenly getting his body and heart back after being turned into a Heartless and Kairi was still asleep. Donald and Goofy piloted the ship in silence. Lucy looked through the front window and stared in awe at the worlds that flew by. There were moments when Lucy thought they had passed by both Neverland and her own world. Lucy could only think about her family. Was time staying still back in her world like it normally did when she traveled to Narnia or was it passing and her family was now looking for her? Lucy guessed that her questions wouldn't be answered until the moment she returned home. Lucy had actually begun falling asleep when the ship suddenly came to a stop.

"We're here," said Goofy as he stood up. Sora picked up the still sleeping Kairi.

"Need some help?" Lucy asked.

"Nah. I'm good," Sora replied. They gathered in the middle of the room and Donald pressed a button on the controller. The interior of the Gummi Ship faded away and was replaced by a courtyard. Shops and restaurants lined the walls of the courtyard. It was nighttime and the only sources of light in the courtyard were the stars in the sky, lampposts, torches, and the lights from the bordering stores. "Welcome to Traverse Town, Lucy."

Lucy looked around the courtyard. There wasn't that many people there.

"It's quite...empty...and small," she said.

"This is only the first district," said Goofy. "There's other districts. I think there's five in total but we've only been to the first, second, and third districts so far."

"So where do we go from here?"

"We have some friends who live here. They own a house in the third district," said Sora.

"Then let's go."

"Getting there isn't quite as simple as it sounds."

"Why not?"

"Well, aside from this district, Heartless are known to appear at random here in Traverse Town."

"So, basically this is the safest district. All of the others have Heartless."

"Pretty much." Lucy unsheathed her sword and sighed.

"Well let's go ahead and make our way to your friends' house."

They made their way towards the back of the first district. On the way they came across a store in which a wooden puppet was sitting outside. Lucy walked up to examine it.

"It looks so alive," she said.

"But, I am alive," the puppet said suddenly. Lucy jumped back in surprise. The puppet stood up and waved at Sora. "Hi Sora! Hi Jiminy!" Jiminy hopped out of Sora's hood and ran over to the puppet.

"Pinocchio!" he exclaimed as he ran up to the puppet. Lucy looked at Jiminy and then at the puppet known as Pinocchio.

"Wait a moment. You two know each other?" Lucy asked. They both nodded in reply.

"Jiminy's my conscience!" Pinocchio replied.

"Your..._conscience_?"

"It's a long story," Jiminy replied.

"Can we please get to Cid's house already?" Sora asked. Jiminy nodded and turned back to Pinocchio.

"Catch ya later, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, Jiminy!" Pinocchio replied.

Their trek through the second district proved to be quite uneventful. Lucy was glad to not have to fight anymore Heartless at the moment. She was still recovering from her battle with Maleficent back in Hollow Bastion. They passed by a house filled with dalmatians which confused Lucy a bit but she decided to ask more about it later.

They entered the third district and that's when everything went wrong. They had only taken a few steps into the district when a large group of Heartless ambushed them.

"Heartless!" Donald cried. Sora held onto the unconscious Kairi tightly.

"There's a lot more Heartless here than there used to be!" Goofy exclaimed. Lucy swiped her sword and took out three Heartless. However, in their place, six more appeared.

"They keep coming back!" Lucy exclaimed as she swiped again. Twelve more Heartless appeared. Just then, a man with a large sword appeared out of nowhere and took out a huge chunk of the Heartless with one, fell swoop.

"Leon!" Sora exclaimed.

"Get into Cid's house! Quick!" ordered the man known as Leon. Sora nodded and made his way over towards a small house in the far corner of the district. Lucy, Donald, Goofy, and Leon were close behind him.

Lucy raced into the house. Three more people were waiting inside: a woman in a long pink dress, a woman with a somewhat revealing assortment of clothes, and a man with a white shirt and short blond hair. The woman in the dress helped Sora place Kairi onto a nearby bed. Donald, Goofy, and Leon ran through the door and Leon closed and locked the door behind them.

"It's nice to see you again!" exclaimed the woman in the dress. "Although I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Don't we all?" asked the blond man. He turned towards Lucy. "So who's your new friend?"

"I'm Lucy. Lucy Pevensie," Lucy replied. "I helped Sora seal the keyhole in my world and I joined his team."

"So he invited you?" asked the woman in the revealing clothing.

"It's a bit more complicated than that."

"I see. Name's Yuffie!" The woman extended a hand and Lucy shook it.

"I'm Aerith," said the woman in the dress.

"Cid," said the blond man.

"It's nice to meet all of you," said Lucy. "So you're all friends of Sora, Donald, and Goofy?"

"I guess you could say that," Leon replied. "We helped Sora out when he first appeared here after his world fell to darkness." Leon turned towards the sleeping Kairi. "So is that one of your missing friends, Sora?"

"Yeah. Kairi. We rescued her...and she also rescued me," Sora replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she was taken to Hollow Bastion-"

"HOLLOW BASTION?!" gasped Aerith, Yuffie, and Cid. Leon didn't really react but he was definitely more attentive.

"Tell us what happened," he said.

For the next hour or so, Sora explained everything that had happened from Lucy joining the team, to Riku's betrayal in Neverland, to what happened at Hollow Bastion, and to Sora being turned into a Heartless only to be saved by Kairi. Kairi awoke halfway through Sora' recounting of the events and Lucy and Aerith helped her recover by giving her some food to eat.

"It seems that you've been through a lot," said Leon once Sora was finished.

"That's an understatement," Lucy chuckled.

"At least, we now know why there are more Heartless everywhere."

"We didn't come across any in the first and second districts," said Sora.

"The residents of Traverse Town have begun a campaign to get rid of the Heartless in this world. The first district was always safe from Heartless and recently Heartless stopped appearing in the second district; in fact, right around the time that you, Sora, sealed the keyhole."

"Since then, all of the Heartless have been gravitating towards this district," said Aerith.

"What about the other districts?" Lucy asked.

"Hmm?" Cid asked.

"I heard that there are two other districts: a fourth and a fifth."

"Nobody lives there anymore. The Heartless have always been bad there. The only people in town who even visit the fourth and fifth districts are Merlin and the Fairy Godmother, but even then it's on rare occasions."

"If the Heartless are so bad here, why not move to another district?" Leon was silent for a moment.

"We've already lost one home to the darkness. We will not lose another." Lucy eyes widened as the pieces fell together in her head.

"That's why you were so shocked about us being in Hollow Bastion. Hollow Bastion is...your original home isn't it?" Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, and Cid all nodded silently.

"I still remember the day the Heartless arrived," said Yuffie.

"It was so long ago and yet it feels like it only happened yesterday," said Cid.

"Tell me...what do you know of Ansem?" Lucy asked.

"I never really knew the guy when I lived in Hollow Bastion," said Leon. "I don't think any of us did."

"We heard of him a lot, of course. He was probably the smartest man in our world," said Yuffie.

"He was the first person to try and uncover the secrets of the heart. Unfortunately, this allowed the Heartless to enter our world and, eventually, pass on to other worlds," Leon explained. "Nobody saw him much. He was always in his laboratory."

"He left a message for me," said Lucy as she presented the message left for her by Ansem. Leon took the message and read it.

"Interesting. So who's this Aslan person?"

"That's a long story. Let's just say for now that he's a really good friend of mine." Lucy looked down for a moment in thought before looking up. "It doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't?" Sora asked.

"Ansem's message. In the message, I got the feeling that he was sorry for what he had done. The Ansem we met in Hollow Bastion, though, fully welcomed the darkness. The Ansem who wrote this message can't be the Ansem we met in Hollow Bastion."

"Darkness can do strange things to one's heart. He may have been corrupted between the time he wrote this message and today," Leon replied.

"What about the people who wronged him? He mentions in the letter about seeking vengeance on those who betrayed him."

"If I remember correctly, Ansem had many apprentices and students. Maybe, just maybe, one or several of his apprentices betrayed him."

"And what about the cloaked man that Lucy and I came across?" Sora asked. Leon rubbed his temple.

"There are a lot of questions that desire answers at the moment but now we must focus on the current problem: the Keyhole. It's still open and darkness is constantly flowing out of it."

"Not to mention that Riku's God knows where and Ansem's still at large," said Lucy.

"And the Beast and the other Princesses of Heart are still trapped in Hollow Bastion," Sora added.

"Oh...what are we to do?" Donald groaned.

"We have hope," Kairi replied. "Hope that we'll be able to bring peace back to the worlds."

"Then I guess the next thing to do is to head back to Hollow Bastion and seal the Keyhole," Goofy replied.

"Right!" said Sora.

"Don't be so quick to jump into action," said Leon. "Heartless are still flooding out of that keyhole like mad. It'd be suicide to go back to Hollow Bastion right now."

"Not to mention the fact that you all could use some time to recover," Yuffie added.

"But...Riku, Ansem, the Beast, the Princesses," Sora sighed.

"All will be taken care of in due time," said Cid.

"But, for now, you and the others need to rest and wait for everything to die down," said Leon.

"Fine...but not for long. We can't let Ansem get a far enough lead," said Sora. Leon chuckled and smiled in response.

"Sora, something tells me that even if he does get a huge head start it wouldn't take long for you to catch up to him."


	19. The Witch and the Promise

Chapter 19: The Witch and the Promise

The next week in Traverse Town flew by like an autumn breeze, fast but not too fast. Lucy, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi took up residence in the nearly abandoned hotel in the second district. Lucy did everything in her power to avoid traveling to the third district due to the amount of Heartless there. Sora didn't mind fighting his way through a few Heartless to visit Leon and the others but usually he didn't have to, for Leon and the others usually visited them first. It was apparent that things weren't looking good at the moment. Cid used a prototype radio he built to listen in on the news of other worlds. The Heartless had grown more powerful and their numbers had increased greatly. Lucy found herself walking around a lot and thinking about things. She thought of her family back home and wondered if the Heartless was as prominent in her world as they were in the others. She thought of Ansem's message and the dark Ansem waiting for her, Sora, and the others beyond the Keyhole to Darkness. She thought of Aslan and his helping hand, or paw, in relation to her quest with Sora. She thought of the cloaked man in Hollow Bastion, the Princesses of Heart, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy, Kairi, Riku, and everything else. There were moments when her head felt like exploding.

Whenever Lucy felt stressed she went and visited the only mansion in town home to over a hundred dalmatians. The dogs helped Lucy feel comfortable and happy again. For some reason, the happy and hyper faces of the dogs made Lucy think of Narnia. She remembered riding on horseback through the lush forests of Lantern Waste, an army of hunting dogs running alongside her. She loved to participate in hunts alongside her brothers. Susan rarely joined them for she was more along the lines of a stay home and rule queen rather than the type of queen to run out and participate in hunts and the like.

"Somehow, I knew I'd find you here," said a familiar voice. Lucy looked to see Kairi walking through the front doors of the mansion. "Can we talk?" Lucy smiled and nodded. She suddenly realized how little she had talked with Kairi. She had heard so much about her from Sora and had gone through a lot of trouble to rescue her, and yet she hardly knew her. Lucy followed Kairi out of the mansion. The two girls walked in silence and made their way across the main courtyard of the second district. The lights of the abandoned stores, the empty hotel, and the new homes shined around them. "You've really kept to yourself."

"I have a lot to think about," Lucy replied. This was true, but she had to admit that this did cause her to become somewhat antisocial with the others over the past few days. Kairi led Lucy through another set of doors that led into the back alley. A small water channel flowed alongside the pathway of the alley. Loads of broken crates and objects floated in the water. The channel led into a dark opening in the side of a stone wall. "So, where are we walking to?"

"A little, underwater cave that Sora told me about. You can access it through the opening back here." Lucy looked at the opening. She couldn't help but feel nervous when she looked into the darkness before her. Since gaining her knowledge of the Heartless, she had developed a slight fear of the darkness.

"Where's Sora now?"

"He's talking with Cid about upgrading the Gummi Ship. I think he wanted to add an advanced navigational system or something like that." Lucy gave a look of interest. She and Kairi then slowly made their way into the secret waterway.

For a couple seconds, Lucy and Kairi walked side-by-side in complete darkness.

"Sora warned me to be careful here. He says that there's a drop off somewhere," Kairi warned.

"A drop off?" Lucy asked. Lucy looked forward and noticed a greenish light growing steadily closer to them. "Now where would that-" Lucy gasped as the ground disappeared beneath her. She and Kairi fell a few feet down and landed in a pond of ice-cold water. "Cold!" Lucy swam to the nearby shore, which was a landmass of rocks and green pebbles. Upon getting out of the water, Lucy realized that she wasn't wet. "Enchanted water, I guess."

Kairi smiled and chuckled as she pulled herself onto the rocky shore.

"We should have taken it more slowly, I guess," she said.

"Probably so," Lucy chuckled. They were in what appeared to be a small cave. Water flowed down a small waterfall and into the pond they had just come out of. A stream of water flowed through the cave and down another dark tunnel. An open doorway was situated in the wall next to the shore of rocks. Lucy could just make out a staircase beyond the doorway. There was a hallway in the cave that led to a dead end.

"Are those paintings?" Kairi pointed towards the end of the dead end tunnel. Lucy looked and saw several paintings on the walls.

"I guess. Want to check them out?"

"Of course!" Lucy and Kairi then carefully made their way down the dead end tunnel. Lucy was thankful that the water level here only reached just above her ankles. The water was cold but it didn't make her feel wet. They soon reached the end of the tunnel. Lucy realized that it was not a series of paintings but one giant painting. It was a painting of the sun in a blue sky with fluffy, white clouds. It was simple but had an amount of heart to it. "I wonder who painted this."

"Maybe someone from town."

"No. Leon told me that nobody's lived in this district for years. It must have been someone from the past."

"Why come down here to paint something?"

"Maybe...they wanted to save it for those who came down here. Maybe it was their way of giving people hope: hope that their worlds would eventually return."

"You're a pretty deep thinker, Kairi."

"Not really. I kind of got it from Riku." Kairi fell silent. Lucy could tell that she was feeling guilty about having to leave Riku behind. "Lucy, do you think Riku's okay?"

"I can't be sure, but I think Riku looks like somebody who won't be defeated easily. I'm sure he's standing up to Ansem in one way or another." Kairi smiled and Lucy smiled back. Lucy suddenly thought back to her vision of Kairi and Aslan. She sighed. "Kairi...do you remember anything from your time inside Sora?" Kairi looked at Lucy and shook her head.

"Not much. I remember feeling lost. I remember feeling like I was floating in something: water perhaps? I remember certain things that Sora went through. I remember...a desert, a lanky monster in a suit, a mermaid, a boy in green clothes, a clock tower full of Heartless, a lion, and...you." Lucy turned to face Kairi. Their eyes met.

"Is that all?"

"There's more but it's mostly just bursts and fuzzy images rather than actual memories. But...there's something else."

"And that would be?"

"I remember a bit from my life before ending up in Destiny Islands."

"I knew it. You weren't from Destiny Islands."

"But...how could you possibly know that?"

"It's difficult to explain. Let's just say that lion you remember has formed a connection between Sora, you, and I for reasons that not even I can explain."

"Is his name Aslan, the lion?"

"Yes. That's his name."

"I like it. It fits him." Kairi looked at the painting for a moment before looking back at Lucy. "I remember a little bit of my life from when I used to live in Hollow Bastion."

"So, you lived in Hollow Bastion as a young girl."

"Yes. I remember traveling to the castle library a lot to listen to my grandmother's stories. I don't remember her name, though I hope I do one day."

"Do you remember anything about your parents?"

"Not much. I remember them being away a lot and my grandmother being in charge of me for most of the time. We went out for ice cream, we picked flowers, and she told me stories."

"What about Ansem?" Kairi fell silent again.

"I...I think I met him once, when I was really young." Kairi looked at the painting. "I can't remember what he looked like exactly but I know that he definitely looked different from the Ansem we ran into recently. I was in the library with my grandmother. He came in and there was somebody else with him."

"Who was with him?"

"I can't remember what he looked like either. All I remember is white hair and golden eyes. Anyway, Ansem told us to leave because he was getting ready to do some research with his apprentice."

"Did he mention his apprentice's name?"

"I think he did. I can't remember it...wait...I think I remember part of it."

"What part of it?"

"I think I remember the letter it started with. I think it started with an..._X_."

"An _X_? Not many names started with _X_."

"I know. I guess that's why I remember it starting it that way. The name was so unique."

"You you remember anything about the night you arrived in Destiny Islands?"

"Sort of. I remember there being lots of panic. My grandmother tried to help me escape. Something attacked me. There was a flash of light and...I was lying on the beach."

"That's it?"

"That's it. There's nothing else I remember about that night." Kairi fell silent once more and looked at the sun. "Is it just me or is the sun glowing?"

Lucy looked and saw that the painting of the sun was glowing with a golden aura.

"What on earth?" Lucy asked as she approached the painting. Then the golden light faded and the sun changed into the moon. The light-blue sky changed into a dark-blue sky. "How did that happen?"

"I feel...funny," said Kairi. Lucy turned around to see that Kairi was swaying back and forth. Lucy grabbed onto her to keep her balanced.

"Do you feel sick?! Kairi?! Kairi, are you okay?!" Lucy and Kairi's eyes met again. Kairi's eyes looked glassy and lifeless.

"I feel...I feel...hate."

"What?"

"Hate."

"Hate?"

"Yes...hate."

"For what?"

"For...for you, Lucy Pevensie." Lucy was silent. She didn't know what was going on. Kairi's eyes began to turn black and angry. "You and your siblings thought you were rid of me." Kairi let out a cold laugh. "But the darkness has been freed and so have I!"

Kairi lunged forward and wrapped her hands around Lucy's throat. Lucy tried to break free but Kairi's grip was too strong. Kairi suddenly became extremely strong and soon Lucy found herself lying on the watery ground, Kairi perched on top of her. Lucy watched as Kairi began to change before her. Her lips became blood red, her skin became pale white, she became clothed in a white gown, her hair became long and black, and an ice crown appeared on her head.

"It can't be!" Lucy choked. She reached for her sword but the woman knocked it away with one, swift movement.

"Did you think it would be that easy to defeat me? I am back, child. I am back! Me! Jadis! The true and everlasting Queen of Narnia!" cackled the White Witch.

"It...it was you! You're the reason why those people like Maleficent and Ansem knew me!"

"Of course. Now go and join the rest of your _Narnian _friends! I have work to do!" Jadis pressed her hands down on Lucy's neck even harder. Lucy couldn't breathe. No air could reach her lungs. She was beginning to fade. She could feel it.

"Leave her alone!" ordered a familiar voice. Lucy looked through her blurry vision to see Kairi rush out of nowhere and stab Jadis straight through the chest with a sword. Lucy gasped as the witch let go of her neck. Kairi pulled Lucy's sword out of Jadis's chest. The witch fell down into the water and an aura of blood circled around her body. Lucy looked from Jadis to Kairi.

"How did...where...but you...but she...huh?!" Lucy choked.

"This isn't the end. We'll met again, Lucy Pevensie...at the End of the World," Jadis gave one last breath and Lucy's eyes flew open. She was no longer laying on the ground and instead was still standing in front of the cave painting. The painting of the sun was back and there was no sign of Jadis. Lucy turned to look at Kairi. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be in a trance.

"Kairi?" Just then, Kairi's eyes shot open and she let out a gasp of air. She turned to Lucy, her eyes wide open with fear.

"Did...did that just happen?" she asked. She and Lucy looked back at the painting. There was no golden glow this time.

"You saw it too? You saw me and the witch?" Both Lucy and Kairi were still trying to catch their breath.

"I saved you, didn't I? It was so strange. One second, I was standing next to you and watching the painting change and then, the next second, I was standing a few feet away and watching you getting choked by that woman. I saw your sword lying in the water. I grabbed it and just...took her out."

"I think we just received a vision of sorts, more of a warning than anything."

"But why? Who was she?"

"Her name's Jadis, also known as the White Witch. My siblings, Aslan, and I defeated her years ago. She ruled the land of Narnia in a wintry grip for an entire century. It seems the darkness has brought her back in a way."

"In a way?"

"Yes. She's not entirely alive. It's almost as if...she's a spirit and yet she's not a spirit." Lucy swallowed hard. "Whatever she is now, I now know for certain that there's more than just Ansem and Riku waiting for Sora and I beyond the Keyhole to Darkness. _She's_ waiting for me as well."

"At the End of the World she said."

"Either she means the physical End of the World or the literal End of the World. Both sound pretty bad." Just then, a series of footsteps rang out from the darkness. Lucy and Kairi turned around to see Sora, Donald, and Goofy walking across the rocky shore.

"Hey!" Sora called. Lucy and Kairi waved before walking away from the painting and towards the shore. "So you came to check out this place, Kairi? What do you think?"

"It definitely feels...mystical," said Kairi. Lucy could tell that she was still a bit shaken up by their spiritual encounter with Jadis. To be honest, Lucy was a little bit shaken up herself.

"What's wrong with you two?" Donald asked as he pointed at Lucy and Kairi's faces.

"Gawrsh, you both look like you've just seen a ghost," Goofy added.

"We're not sure what we just saw," Lucy replied. Lucy and Kairi quickly explained to Sora, Donald, and Goofy about Jadis.

"Jadis, huh?" Sora asked as he crossed his arms.

"And she's waiting for us at the End of the World?" Donald groaned.

"Not all of us, just me. It's me who has the bad blood with her," Lucy replied.

"You don't have to go with us. We don't want you to go towards someone who wants to kill you," said Sora.

"Don't start talking like that! I am most certainly coming with you to seal the Keyhole to Darkness _and_ to save Riku _and_ to stop Ansem. We're in this together, Sora. I don't care that Jadis is waiting for me. I'll happily face her to finish what Aslan, my siblings, and I started all those centuries ago!"

"Centuries?" Kairi asked.

"By Narnian time." Sora smiled and nodded.

"You won't have to face her alone, Lucy. Donald, Goofy, and I will be there to help you," said Sora.

"I know you will." Lucy walked forward and gave Sora a quick hug. Sora then turned towards Kairi and smiled at her sadly.

"Kairi-"

"I know. You don't want me to come. I understand. I'm not going to argue," said Kairi.

"You're not?"

"I know what's waiting out there is dangerous. You don't want to risk losing me again. I don't want you having to worry about me while you're off stopping the darkness." Kairi stepped forward and pulled something out of her pocket. "Just...promise me one thing."

"Anything, Kairi." Kairi took Sora's hand and placed something in it. It was a small star-shaped item.

"Take this."

"Your lucky charm?"

"Yes. Make sure to bring it back to me!" Sora and Kairi looked deep into each other's eyes. Sora smiled, took the lucky charm, and placed it against his heart.

"Don't worry, I will."

"Promise?"

"I promise." Kairi giggled. Lucy smiled. She knew that this was more than a promise to bring back a lucky charm. This was a promise to find Riku, stop the darkness, and return safely. Lucy couldn't help but think about how Sora and Kairi would make a great couple in the future. Upon thinking of couples, she thought back to Susan and the American Keith O'Donnell. She pushed the thought out of her head and decided not to think of couples for a while.

"Well...the Gummi Ship's ready," said Goofy.

"Are you ready to head off?" Donald asked as he looked at Lucy and Sora.

"Ready," said Sora.

"Ready," Lucy replied. Kairi turned to look at Lucy.

"Make sure he doesn't get into anymore trouble," she said with a smirk.

"I'll use every ounce of my strength to make sure that nothing else befalls Sora."

"Promise?" Lucy looked at Sora, Donald, and Goofy, and then to Kairi. She gave a small smile and giggled.

"Don't worry, I promise."


	20. Return to Hollow Bastion

Chapter 20: Return to Hollow Bastion

Lucy, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi met Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid in the courtyard in the first district. They had quickly gathered their belongings and were ready to head off.

"You sure that you don't want to wait any longer?" Aerith asked.

"We can't. We've waited long enough for the Heartless to die down a bit. It's now or never," Sora replied.

"Are _all_ of you going?" Yuffie asked.

"I'm not. I promised to stay here," Kairi replied.

"We'll keep her safe until you return," said Leon. "Good luck."

"Thanks. We're going to need it," Donald groaned.

"Hey! Wait for me!" called a familiar voice. Lucy looked and saw Jiminy running towards them. "Don't leave me behind!"

"How could we forget you, Jiminy?" Sora asked as he knelt down and let Jiminy jump into his hood.

"Bye, Jiminy!" Pinocchio called from nearby. "Come back soon!"

"I'll try!" Jiminy called back.

"Well...I guess we better go then," said Lucy.

"Take care now," said Cid.

"We will," Goofy replied with a chuckle. Sora and Kairi silently said goodbye to each other. Donald pressed the button on the remote and Traverse Town disappeared.

Lucy sat against the wall of the wall of the control room in silence. She examined her sword carefully. She hadn't given it much thought since Neverland. She was still confused about how her knife had changed into a sword, granted she was confused about a lot of things at the moment. It seemed that with every new discovery there was a barrage of questions waiting to be exposed. The more they knew, the less they knew.

"The curse of fighting the Heartless, I guess," Lucy said under her breath.

"What was that?" Goofy asked as he sat down next to her.

"Nothing. Just thinking out loud." Lucy looked and saw that Donald was busy piloting the Gummi Ship while Sora looked on.

"You kept to yourself all week."

"Got a lot on my mind."

"I do too. It sometimes gets so overwhelming that I feel like my head's going to pop off my body!"

"Me too! How to get over that feeling?"

"I smile!" Goofy then gave Lucy the, for lack of a better word, goofiest smile she had ever seen. Lucy laughed in response.

"Is that really all you do? You just _smile_?"

"Yep! And I always try to make it as goofy as possible!"

"Do you do that a lot: smiling like that?"

"Yep! For as long as I can remember."

"No wonder your parents named you Goofy."

"I...actually I don't remember if that was the reason why they named me Goofy."

"Let's not try to think about it too much or else both of our heads will explode."

"Good idea." Lucy and Goofy sat in silence for a few minutes. "So...tell me about this Narnia place."

"Why that all of a sudden?"

"It's just that you talk about it so much and yet you've hardly told us anything about it."

"I guess you're right." Lucy let out a sigh and smiled at the thought of Narnia. "It's a wonderful place, Goofy. It has lush forests, roaring rivers, wide plains, and great people. All sorts of creatures live there aside from humans. There's talking animals and fauns and minotaurs and nymphs and water spirits and...it's just amazing."

"And Aslan's from there as well?"

"Yes and no. Narnia's the only place I've physically seen Aslan but he exists in other places. I've felt him. I've seen him in visions and in my dreams. He's the True King of Narnia. Professor Digory tells me that he's the one who created it."

"A lion with the power to create an entire world? I would be afraid to get close to somebody with that power."

"A lot of people are afraid of him, as they should be. Like my old friends the Beavers and Mr. Tumnus always said: he's not a tame lion, but he's good."

"Are those some of your friends who...passed away?"

"Yes. I can still remember my first time in Narnia. I stumbled through an old wardrobe in a spare room in Professor Digory's mansion. This was six years ago in Earth time. My siblings didn't believe me at first and it hurt. But then they found it too and we embarked on a simply amazing journey. We met Father Christmas and he gave me my knife and cordial." Lucy presented the sword and the cordial to Goofy. "I'm still confused about how my knife became a sword. I have a feeling that Aslan has something to do with it. Anyway, Father Christmas gave me my knife and dagger, he gave my brother Peter a sword and shield, and he gave my sister Susan a bow and arrow as well as a magic horn that could summon help whenever she needed it. That same horn was actually used centuries later in Narnian time to call Peter, Susan, Edmund, and I back to Narnia."

"Edmund's your other brother, right?"

"Yes."

"What did he get from...who gave you those presents again?"

"Father Christmas."

"Father Christmas? That's an odd name."

"He's also known as Santa Clause, especially in America."

"Oh! Santa Clause! Now I get it. Anyway, what gifts did Edmund get from Santa Clause/Father Christmas?"

"He didn't get any gifts. He wasn't with us when we met Father Christmas."

"Why not?"

"He was with the White Witch."

"Why would he be with her?"

"Years ago, Edmund was not the nicest of boys. In fact, he was rather quite nasty at times. He wasn't cruel...he just wasn't that good. He was tempted by the White Witch and he went to her to become a prince. Sadly, he found out about her real character the hard way. She would have eventually killed Edmund if it weren't for the help of the Narnians and Aslan. Aslan allowed the Witch to kill him on the Stone Table so that he could spare Edmund's life."

"She..._killed_ Aslan?!"

"Yes."

"But how can he still be alive?"

"It was the ancient magic from before the dawn of time. It allowed Aslan to be brought back to life. The law stated that if an innocent died in a traitor's stand, the Stone Table would crack and even death itself would turn backwards."

"Wow."

"Anyway, with help from Aslan, we freed the people that the Witch had turned to stone, we defeated the Witch and her armies, and my siblings and I became Kings and Queens of Narnia. We ruled for fifteen years. Then...we went back." Lucy fell silent. "It was an accident. We stumbled across the lamppost that stood in Narnia, it was near the spot where we entered through the wardrobe. We passed through and fell out of the wardrobe. No time had passed on Earth and thus we returned to being children. I can't even begin to tell you how weird it was to go from a 23-year-old woman to an 8-year-old girl in one second."

"It must have been strange."

"It _was_." Lucy looked out the Gummi Ship's window and stared out at the infinite amount of worlds shining in the distance. "I wonder what's happening in Narnia right now. I wonder what's happening back in England."

"Do you miss your family?"

"Of course! All of them. I hope they're not worried about me. Knowing how Earth time works, they probably don't even know I'm gone."

"Are you still up to traveling to Narnia after everything is taken care of?"

"I think about it ever now and then. Mostly, I focus on helping you, Sora, and Donald defeat Ansem and the Heartless. Once the worlds are at peace...I'll happily return to Narnia for one last visit. That is if Aslan will allow me to go."

"Why wouldn't you? Don't ya think you would deserve to after all this?"

"Maybe. But the real question isn't whether or not he'll let me go back after all of this. I think the real question is whether or not I'll even want to go back."

It wasn't until an hour later that the Gummi Ship finally returned to Hollow Bastion. Lucy couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that Hollow Bastion was definitely not looking as good as it previously had. The world looked decayed and practically barren.

"Ready to head down?" Sora asked.

"Yes," replied Lucy, Donald, and Goofy together. Donald clicked the button and the Gummi Ship disappeared.

The next second, Lucy found herself standing a little bit away from the entrance doors of the main castle. The exterior of the castle had begun to rust over and a dark cloud hung in the sky. Lucy looked back and saw that the waterfalls had frozen over.

"I think it's obvious that the last thing this place needed was more darkness," Lucy stated. Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement. Just then, a large group a Heartless appeared and charged at them.

"There's too many! We need to get inside!" Sora exclaimed as he used the Keyblade to shoot a few fireballs at the Heartless. Lucy yelped as Donald grabbed onto her arm and pulled her towards the doors. Goofy and Sora were right behind them. Thankfully, the doors weren't locked this time. The four travelers made their way inside quickly and slammed the doors shut behind them.

The castle was quiet on the inside. Lucy, Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrived in the entrance room where they had fought Riku to find the chandelier trashed and the fountain spewing out black water instead of normal water. Lucy looked over towards the library door on the second floor of the room just in time to see somebody close it.

"Somebody just went into the library!" Lucy whispered. They slowly made their way up the stairs and towards the library. They found that the door was locked.

"It looks like I can unlock this door with the Keyblade," said Sora. He then aimed the Keyblade at the lock and, following a flash of light, the door unlocked.

The library was not as quiet for Lucy could hear a humming sound emanating from amongst the book shelves. Lucy made her way up the stairs and saw a beautiful woman in a golden evening gown reading through a series of books. Once the woman noticed Lucy, she gasped out of shock.

"Don't worry! I'm not going to hurt you!" Lucy said. Lucy instantly recognized the woman as Belle, the woman that the Beast had been searching for. "You're...Belle, right? I'm Lucy Pevensie." Belle smiled upon hearing Lucy's name.

"So, you've returned," said Belle. She walked forward and gave Lucy a quick hug. "It's nice to finally meet you. Beast has told me a lot about you. Are Sora, Donald, and Goofy here as well?"

"Right here!" said Sora as he walked up the stairs, Donald and Goofy close behind him. Belle walked over to them and gave each of them a quick hug, though she gave Donald a longer one.

"Have you come to help stop the Heartless?"

"Of course!" Sora looked around. "So...how's the Beast doing?" Belle looked down and sighed.

"He's seen better days."

"Is he badly hurt?" Lucy asked. Belle walked over and grabbed a small stack of books off the nearby table. Lucy noticed that they were all medical books.

"I'll take you to him. He's with the others."

Belle led them to a small clinic room of sorts that was located a few floors underneath the chapel and sanctuary. They had to deal with a fair amount of Heartless on the way. Lucy and Sora couldn't help but feel relieved when they made it into the room that Belle was leading them to. It wasn't that big of a room but it was large enough to hold a fair amount of people. The Beast was lying on a nearby bed, unconscious. The other Princesses of Heart stood around him. They all turned when they noticed that they weren't alone.

"Back already?" asked Snow White.

"Who's with you?" asked Aurora. Alice Kingsley and Jasmine both gasped.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy!" they both cried. They ran forward and gave each of them, save Lucy, a hug.

"Beast told us about what happened! You were so brave, Sora!" Alice stated.

"Have you seen Aladdin?" Jasmine asked.

"It's nice to see you two again too," said Sora. "Sorry Jasmine, I haven't seen Aladdin recently. But he was doing pretty well when I left." Sora then reached into his pocket and pulled out a summon gem. A second later, a blue genie appeared out of thin air. Lucy's eyes went wide.

"Genie!" Jasmine exclaimed.

"Princess Jasmine! You're okay!" cried Genie as he wrapped her up in a huge hug.

"Could you please shrink?" Cinderella asked Genie. "There's only so much room in here."

"Oh...sorry about that." The Genie then shrunk down to around Jasmine's size. Lucy then turned her attention to the Beast. She ran next to his bed and examined him.

"What happened to him?" Lucy asked.

"That's sort of a long story," replied Alice.

"We have time...kind of," Donald said.

"We'll keep things brief," said Aurora. "Right after you left, Heartless were continuing to pour out of that Keyhole. We were afraid that this world would be plunged into darkness."

"So, us Princesses of Heart used our power to weaken the darkness coming out of the Keyhole, but we couldn't stop it," said Jasmine.

"Then...a creature began coming out of the Keyhole and hunting us," said Snow White.

"What kind of creature?" Sora asked.

"It's hard to describe...but it's simply horrible!" Alice exclaimed.

"We couldn't fend it off. The Beast tried to defeat it and...this happened," said Belle.

"Gawrsh, I hope he gets better," said Goofy.

"He should. We've been working on getting his strength back. He should awake soon," said Aurora.

"Well, you don't have to worry any longer. We've come to seal the Keyhole," said Sora.

"But, let me guess, we won't be able to until we defeat the monster that's been hunting you," Lucy guessed.

"Sadly, yes," Cinderella replied.

"Why am I not surprised?" Donald asked as he rolled his eyes.


	21. The Falling

Chapter 21: The Falling

To Lucy, she preferred fighting a monster that lived within a Keyhole of Darkness versus having to come across the White Witch again in the future, though she was saddened by the fact that she couldn't have one fight without the other to come. Lucy, Sora, Donald, and Goofy carefully made their way to the sanctuary. They tried their best to avoid fighting anymore Heartless for they wanted to save their strength for the monster that lied beyond the Keyhole to Darkness. They made it to the sanctuary without having to confront any Heartless, though they did have a few close encounters. Now, they were standing before the Keyhole to Darkness. Streams of dark magic seemed to be emanating from the rainbow colored Keyhole.

"So, where's the creature?" Donald asked.

"It's waiting for us," said Lucy as she gripped her sword tightly. "I can feel it." Sora looked at Lucy and then back at the Keyhole.

"I can feel it too. It's just sitting in there, waiting for its next victims," Sora said as he gripped his own weapon tighter. Donald and Goofy gulped.

"Are you guys ready to face it?" Goofy asked. Lucy and Sora nodded while Donald nodded nervously. They approached the Keyhole and extended their hands towards the rainbow surface.

"On the count of three, we all go through," said Sora. "One."

"Two," said Lucy.

"Three!" cried Donald and Goofy. They all thrusted their hands forward.

Lucy felt a powerful force grab her arm and pull her through the entrance of the Keyhole. She managed to land on her feet and struggled to examine her surroundings. She was standing in a large room. The room's walls, floor, and ceiling all looked like rainbow colored gases and yet it felt solid underneath her feet.

"So, we're inside the Keyhole?" Goofy asked. Sora shook his head.

"No. This is only the entrance. Look," he said as he pointed towards something on the opposite wall. The glowing outline of a Keyhole was situated in the center of the opposite wall.

"That was easy," said Donald.

"Don't let your guard down just yet," said Lucy. "It's here, the creature." Just then, something strong smashed into Lucy's side. She flew through the air, smashed into Donald, and hit the opposite wall.

"Lucy! Donald!" Sora cried. Lucy's vision became slightly blurred from the attack and her entire left side ached with pain. She looked to see Sora and Goofy fending off a rainbow colored creature. Lucy stood up and tried to help Donald up, who was just as dazed as she was.

"What's that?" Donald asked as he pointed towards the creature that Sora and Goofy were fighting. Lucy closed her eyes and took a series of deep breathes. The pain in her side faded away. When she opened her eyes again, her vision was clear.

Sora and Goofy were fighting what appeared to be a monster formed from the rainbow, gaseous walls that constructed the room they were in. Its eyes were huge and yellow, its mouth was large and black, its feet were thick and strong, and two tusks protruded from its face. A large Heartless emblem was imprinted on its chest. The creature let out a roar and charged for Lucy and Donald. Lucy grabbed onto Donald and pulled him out of the creature's path. The duck magician was still slightly dazed and Lucy didn't want anything to happen to him. Sora and Goofy charged at the creature. Goofy threw his shield while Sora attacked with the Keyblade. The creature took a fair amount of damage from the attacks but recovered quickly. It aimed its tusks and tried to impale Sora. Sora dodged the attack and returned the favor with a few attacks of his own. Donald soon regained his senses and charged into battle with his staff. Lucy was about to follow him when she noticed something odd. Something was calling her. It wasn't a voice but more of a force. It wasn't an evil force nor was it a good force. It was just...something. Lucy walked towards the Keyhole to Darkness. It didn't look that different from the other keyholes aside from the fact that it was in a wall constructed of rainbow colored gases. Lucy suddenly realized how close she was to the Keyhole. She could hear Sora, Donald, and Goofy fighting the creature in the background but her focus wasn't on that. Her focus was mostly on the Keyhole. She slowly reached out her free hand and extended it towards the Keyhole. She hesitated for a moment. She felt like she was in a trance. She didn't know what would happen if she stuck her hand into the Keyhole. It could kill her. It could grant her power. It could do absolutely nothing. Was she willing to take the risk? Normally, she would have already rushed into battle with Sora and the others but something about this Keyhole fascinated her. She then plunged her hand deep into the Keyhole.

She was falling. Lucy was falling into darkness. She felt herself leave her body and plummet down into an endless abyss of nothing. She didn't know what was happening. She knew she wasn't dead and yet she didn't feel alive either. She just existed somewhere in-between the worlds. She wasn't in Hollow Bastion anymore. She was somewhere else. The darkness began to fade. Lights began appearing all around her: stars. Lucy smiled as the stars surrounded her. Upon closer inspection, she saw that these stars were rather big. Of course, she knew that stars were normally big and yet she found it odd that _these_ stars were big. In relation to normal stars, they were pretty small. They were only about as big as a large bag of watermelons. She then realized that these stars were vibrating...no...they were _beating_. They were beating like hearts. What if they _were_ hearts? Lucy found herself drawn towards one star that didn't look complete. It looked like a half star. Half of it was complete and the other half extended into darkness. Lucy floated around the star. She pressed her hands against the surface. It felt warm and cold at the same time. Her head began buzzing with thoughts. Random images popped into her mind: a town full of people, a cloud of darkness exploding from a castle, a man in a coat walking away from a destroyed town, a lion approaching the man as he slept.

"Wake up. Wake up Hollow Bastion. Save it," said a voice in the darkness. Lucy couldn't recognize the voice but she knew that she knew it well. Was it Aslan? Possibly. Was it Ansem? Maybe. Was it the cloaked man that she and Sora had met earlier? Another possibility. Something grabbed onto Lucy's arm tightly and the abyss of stars disappeared.

Lucy pulled her hand out of the Keyhole. She felt light on her feet and slightly woozy. She was near collapsing out of sudden exhaustion. Sora was holding onto her sword arm.

"Lucy! Lucy!" he cried. "Are you okay?!" Lucy looked and saw that Donald and Goofy were busy fending off the creature. She then looked down and noticed that her sword was glowing. Sora's Keyblade was glowing as well. Sora looked and quickly noticed the glowing weapons. "What the...what's going on?!" Lucy felt an odd power rush through her body and into her sword. Suddenly, Lucy's sword and Sora's Keyblade stuck together with a loud _clang_. Lucy felt like she was half asleep so she let the sword do all the work. Sora's eyes widened and his grip tightened as the bonded sword and Keyblade pointed at the creature. Before Sora could ask any questions, a large beam of light shot out of the weapons and destroyed the creature in a massive explosion of light. Donald and Goofy cheered in celebration of the creature's defeat. Lucy lost control of her legs and fell to the ground. Her ears were ringing and the world was fading away around her. Sora knelt down next to her and Donald and Goofy rushed to her side as she began to lose consciousness. The Keyhole began emanating a shrill scream. Sora grabbed the Keyblade and quickly sealed the Keyhole. The rainbow room began to vanish around them. Lucy felt Sora pick her up and carry her from the room as quickly as possible. Donald and Goofy were right behind them. It wasn't until they passed between the Keyhole entrance and the sanctuary that Lucy lost consciousness.

Lucy was falling again. She felt so lost. So afraid. So...calm. She was being led somewhere. The Keyhole had confused her and now it was time to put her back into place. She found herself standing in the middle of a hotel room in Traverse Town. Kairi was sitting in the room with Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid. Their eyes widened as they noticed Lucy's sudden appearance.

"Sealed. Safe. Return. Hollow Bastion. Home," Lucy croaked through her trance. The room then disappeared and Lucy found herself flying over a world of rock islands, reflective water, and an endless horizon that led into a purple vortex. She then found herself lying on a beach. She felt so weak and lost that she didn't even have the strength to ask questions. A familiar boy with white hair stood over her. He knelt down next to her.

"I am waiting at the End of the World," said Riku. The White Witch suddenly appeared behind Riku.

"So am I," she said. Lucy looked and saw the man in the black cloak standing at the shoreline. The cloaked man disappeared and was replaced my Ansem.

"Just try to stop me," he teased. Lucy's eyes rolled up into her head. She felt like falling asleep again. She pondered the possibility of even being able to fall asleep while asleep. Then, he appeared. Lucy was in darkness again but Aslan was with her. He looked down at her and smiled.

"The time to sleep has not yet arrived. You and the others still have plenty to do," he said. Lucy could only give a small smile. Aslan chuckled and placed his paw on Lucy's face. Then...Lucy woke up.


	22. Departure

Chapter 22: Departure

Lucy sat up as a cold chill ran down and up her spine. She was back in the small clinic that the Princesses of Heart had been in. Now, it was empty aside from a few familiar faces. Donald was sitting in a chair a couple feet away and was talking to the girl called Alice.

"You're awake!" Alice gasped as she stood up.

"Are you okay?" Donald asked as he rushed to Lucy's side.

"Better than I was," Lucy replied as she placed a hand against her forehead.

"What happened?" Lucy thought back to the force that had beckoned her to stick her hand into the Keyhole. She was still confused by it. She then thought of the visions she had witnessed: the stars in the darkness, Kairi and the others in Traverse Town, Riku and the White Witch, and the man being approached by Aslan. Lucy's ears were ringing. It was too much to try and figure out by this point. Lucy stood up and quickly regained full control of her body. The stiffness went away and so did the cold chill in her spine. "Need some help?"

"I'm fine, Donald. I think walking is the best thing for me at the moment." Lucy looked around and took a mental note about how empty the castle seemed to be around them. It felt as if a giant cloth had been lifted. "Something's different. Where is everybody else?"

"Out and about," said Alice. "The Heartless have gone now because of the Keyhole being sealed." Lucy also took note of Alice. She had a British accent but it sounded even more proper and older than the accent that Wendy had had.

"So, are you from England too?"

"Yes. I can see that you're from it as well."

"Probably a different England than yours. Tell me, what year is it in your England?"

"1886. Why do you ask?"

"Well, the year in my England in 1946. A full sixty years ahead of yours."

"But how?!"

"Alternate worlds. Alternate Englands. I've gotten used to the concept by now." Alice seemed to take the news rather well, just as well as Wendy did in fact. Just then, the door opened and in walked Jasmine.

"Oh, good! You're awake," she exclaimed.

"Is something wrong?" Donald asked.

"Lucy. Donald. I think you need to come to the sanctuary. Sora and Goofy are already there."

"What's going on?" Lucy asked.

"There are some friends of yours waiting for you there. I don't remember all of their names but I believe one of them is named Kairi and another is named Leon."

Lucy and Donald made their way to the sanctuary as fast as they could. Jasmine and Alice followed them but at a somewhat slower pace. They made it there quicker than they had originally expected. Lucy could only smirk at the thought that the castle seemed smaller and smaller each time she traveled through it. The other Princesses of Heart were waiting for them in the sanctuary by the sealed Keyhole to Darkness. Sora and Donald were there also. And, just as Jasmine had said, Kairi and Leon were there too alongside Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid. A golden dog with black ears was with them. Lucy identified the dog as Pluto who apparently was King Mickey's loyal companion. Lucy had heard about him during her time in Traverse Town and had even caught sight of him a few times but never was officially introduced to him.

"Lucy!" Sora exclaimed as he turned away from Kairi, whom he had been having a conversation with. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. What's going on?" Lucy asked.

"We had to come when we received your message," Leon replied.

"Message?"

"Remember? You appeared in our hotel room in Traverse Town and pretty much said that Hollow Bastion was safe," said Yuffie. Lucy thought back to her vision.

"Sort of. It's hard to explain." Then Lucy realized something. "Wait a moment. It's about an hour and a half's trip between here and Traverse Town." She turned to Donald. "How _long_ was I unconscious?!" Donald sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Uh...around two hours. Give or take a few minutes," he replied. Lucy should have felt shocked but she had already been rendered unconscious a fair amount of times since she met Sora so she just shrugged it off.

"How did you all travel here?" Lucy asked as she turned back to Leon and the others.

"I'm a Gummi Ship builder, remember?" Cid asked. "I had one locked away in case our home became safe enough to return to." Lucy did remember hearing about Cid's profession before.

"It sure feels good to be home!" Yuffie exclaimed.

"But, there's still a lot of work to be done," Leon added. "There are still Heartless here and it looks like it's up to us to get rid of them. Hopefully, word will spread about Hollow Bastion becoming inhabitable again and maybe some of the people who once lived here will return."

"Don't worry! We'll stop the Heartless!" said Sora as he stood proudly alongside Lucy, Donald, and Goofy. Leon smiled and stroked his hair a bit with a chuckle.

"I don't doubt that for a second." Suddenly, Leon and the others looked sad. Kairi appeared to be in the dark because she was confused by this.

"Why do you all look so sad?" Kairi asked. Leon looked at the others and sighed.

"I guess you can say that we're a bit worried about what might happen once the Heartless are defeated," he replied.

"Isn't that what you want?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, but you see...the worlds aren't normally _this_ easy to travel to," said Yuffie.

"Normally, there are walls to keep the worlds from mingling with each other," Aerith added. "The Heartless managed to weaken these walls with their powers so it allowed people, such as you, to travel amongst the worlds."

"We believe that once the Heartless are defeated, all the worlds previously lost to the darkness will be restored, but they will _also_ be disconnected," said Leon. "Once the worlds are restored, everybody should return to where they belong...or-"

"Or they'll be trapped in the world that they're currently in," said Cid. Everybody was silent for a moment. Lucy felt as though a rock had fallen into her stomach. If she saved the worlds, then everything will become disconnected. She'd never return to Narnia but, more importantly, there's a chance that she might never even return home. She could end up trapped at the edge of the multiverse with Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Riku, and Kairi could end up trapped here in Hollow Bastion rather than returning to Destiny Islands.

"We'll be able to find our way!" Kairi said suddenly. "Nothing can keep any of us apart from the ones we care about!"

"Right! Even if the worlds _do_ become disconnected, we'll always find our way home to our friends!" said Sora. Leon gave a snarky smile and stroked his hair again.

"We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other," he said. He looked at Lucy, Sora, Donald, and Goofy one final time before turning around and walking away. "Good luck."

"What? Is that all he has to say?!" Donald snapped.

"That's Leon for ya," Yuffie chuckled. Donald and Goofy then began exchanging goodbyes with Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid. Lucy looked and saw that Belle and the Beast were finally together.

"Do you think that we'll return home, Beast?" Belle asked.

"I believe we will, Belle," said the Beast. "And, if not, at least we'll be together." Belle turned around and smiled at the Beast.

"Yeah. That _is_ nice." The other Princesses of Heart didn't look as happy as Belle and the Beast did about the fact that they could possibly end up trapped in Hollow Bastion forever. It was obvious that they too had friends and family waiting for them back in their respective worlds. Lucy then turned to Sora and Kairi.

"Do you still have my lucky charm?" Kairi asked.

"Of course!" said Sora as he presented it to her. Kairi turned to Lucy and then back to Sora.

"You remember your promises right?"

"Yep!"

"Of course," Lucy replied as she stood next to Sora. Lucy and Sora then gave their goodbyes to Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, the Beast, Belle, and the other Princesses of Heart.

"It's a shame that we might never see any of these guys again," said Goofy once they had completed their goodbyes.

"I don't think this'll be the last time," said Lucy.

"How can you be so sure?" Donald asked.

"I just have this feeling."

"Yeah, me too," said Sora.

"Bah! You two and your feelings!" Donald snapped with a grin.

"I guess we're finished here," said Goofy as he looked around.

"Right. Time to stop Ansem and find Riku!" said Sora.

"I'll be waiting for you to come and take me back home!" Kairi said with a smirk. Sora and Kairi hugged each other one last time. Lucy, Sora, Donald, and Goofy then began making their way outside so that they could begin their journey to the end.


	23. The End of the World

Chapter 23: The End of the World

Lucy, Sora, and the others didn't realize that Pluto had been following them until he appeared on the Gummi Ship alongside them.

"Pluto?!" Donald gasped. The dog simply smiled and barked happily as it did a few jumps. "What are you doing here?!" As expected, the dog responded with a bark. "Well, you're going back to Leon and the others!" The dog barked angrily. It was apparent that he was determined to go with them.

"Maybe he's determined to find King Mickey, like you two," said Lucy. She knelt down and scratched behind Pluto's ears. "But, it still wouldn't be safe for him if he came along." Pluto then pointed at the floor and pounded it with his hoof. "Are...are you saying that you'll stay in the ship?" The dog nodded in response. Lucy shrugged off the fact that a dog could understand her perfectly because, to be honest, she'd come across stranger things before.

"I guess it wouldn't be that much of a problem if he stayed in the ship," said Sora. Donald groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Fine! He can come with us," he said as he trudged over to the controls.

An hour of silence followed as the ship made its way towards the place where Ansem had gone. It wasn't hard to follow him for a trail of darkness lied behind him. Worlds of all sorts passed by but some looked like they were close to being swallowed by the darkness. Lucy could feel a pit forming in her stomach. She knew what waited for them at their unknown destination: Ansem, Riku, Heartless, Jadis, King Mickey, and possibly Aslan. Nobody talked throughout the whole trip. The only person on board who made any sound was Pluto and he mostly just occasionally barked. What Leon and the others had said had really struck a chord with everyone. There was a chance that they may never see their homes again. What was to become of them once Ansem and the Heartless were defeated? So many questions that desired answers. Lucy closed her eyes and prayed to Aslan. She asked for his guidance and to give her any signs that could possibly help her. Sadly, nobody spoke back to her. The Gummi Ship came to a stop.

"We're here," said Goofy darkly. Lucy looked out the front window and her jaw dropped.

"Where are all the stars?" she asked.

"Gone. There's no worlds around here," said Donald. Everything was black outside. Complete darkness. The only source of light was the world in front of them, if you could even call it a world. It looked like a miniature galaxy comprised to broken clouds, shattered stars, and dark vapors. In a way, it looked like the remains of several stars, or worlds in this case, smushed together into a rotating orb of gas and dust.

"So, this is it," said Sora.

"Yes," Donald replied.

"The End of the World," Lucy and Goofy added together. Pluto barked and curled up into a ball.

"Now, stay!" Donald ordered as he pointed at Pluto. Pluto nodded and instantly fell asleep. Lucy chuckled. Donald produced the remote. "Ready?" Lucy and Sora prepared their blades and Goofy prepared his shield. Donald pulled out his staff.

"Ready," replied Lucy, Sora, and Goofy. Donald then pressed the button.

Lucy found herself standing in what appeared to be a cave. It was the size of a large bedroom and a large opening led from the cave and out into a wide area. Sora and Donald were the first ones outside. Lucy and Goofy followed. Lucy's jaw fell again. The sky was dark purple and violet, sort of like what one would see just as night began to transition into dawn. A vast, reflective ocean spanned out into oblivion and little rock islands were scattered throughout the ocean. Some of the islands floated high in the sky and others were almost submerged. Black, gaseous orbs floated above the ocean in certain places and a circular, white and pink portal of sorts could be seen in the distance.

"Gawrsh, is _this_ all that's left of the worlds taken by the Heartless?" Goofy asked.

"So my assumption was right," said Lucy. "This is a combination of worlds swallowed by darkness."

"It would appear so," said Donald.

"But all of those worlds will be restored once we beat Ansem, right?" Sora asked.

"Of course!"

"But...then what will happen to this place, and to _us_?" Lucy felt as if another rock had fallen into her stomach. The first possible threat had been that they would be trapped at the End of the World. Now, due to the fact that this world would most likely disappear following the defeat of the Heartless, there was now a chance that they could be destroyed.

"It doesn't matter what happens to this world!" Goofy exclaimed. "It might disappear but our hearts won't be goin' nowhere. We'll find our pals again!"

"Right!" said Sora as he nodded his head. "Nothing will stop us!" Sora then reached into his pocket and pulled out Kairi's good luck charm. He looked at it for a few seconds. Lucy smiled as she placed a hand on Sora's shoulder.

"Come on. We have some friends to save, right?" she asked. Sora nodded and stored the good luck charm away.

"I'm guessing that we need to get over to that portal of sorts." Lucy pointed towards the portal in the distance.

"But how are we going to get to it?" Donald asked. "There's an entire ocean in between that and us!"

"Maybe...maybe not." Lucy stepped forward and placed her foot on the surface of the water. She then stepped down.

At first, she expected her foot to fall through but instead found herself standing on a hard surface.

"The water! We can walk on it!" exclaimed Goofy as he followed Lucy onto the water. Sora and Donald then carefully followed them.

"So, I guess we have to just walk forward from here," said Sora.

"I don't think it would be that easy," said Lucy. Donald began walking ahead of the others. Suddenly, Lucy saw Donald stop dead in his tracks. "Donald, what's wrong?"

"There...there's a _wall_ here!" Donald replied as he pressed his hand forward.

"I don't see anything," said Goofy.

"See for yourselves if you don't believe me!" Lucy and Sora stepped forward and pushed their palms forward. Sure enough, they found themselves pushing against a rough and rocky surface.

"Invisible walls!" Sora exclaimed.

"Incredible," said Lucy.

"Now how are we going to get to that portal?" Donald asked. Sora rubbed his temple.

"I got it!" he said. "Maybe there's an opening somewhere! Maybe...maybe this is like a maze!"

"An invisible maze," said Lucy. "That's brilliant."

"Brilliantly annoying," Donald groaned.

"There must be a way for us to tell how to work our way around the invisible walls," said Goofy. He then pointed towards one of the floating gaseous orbs. "Maybe they're the key to this!"

"It's worth a try," said Sora. He began walking over to the nearest orb and Lucy grabbed his arm.

"It could be a trap," she said.

"Good thing we came prepared then." Lucy felt the cordial in her pocket and the sword in her hand simultaneously grow heavier.

They cautiously made their way over to the nearest orb. It only grew more and more menacing as they came closer and closer to it. Soon, they were standing right underneath it. At first, nothing happened.

"Well, how's _this_ thing supposed to help us?" Donald asked. That's when the orb fell down towards them.

Lucy expected to get squashed to death but was surprised to find that nothing had befallen her or the others. A see-through black wall surrounded them on all sides. The area surrounded by the wall was at least the size of a small courtyard. Lucy looked and saw that, through the black wall, they could see the walls of the maze.

"We've done it!" she exclaimed. Sora stepped forward and pushed. The black wall around them moved.

"We can push it with us," said Sora. Sora took the role of pushing the black wall while Lucy, Donald, and Goofy followed close behind. Lucy could hear what appeared to be a pencil on paper coming from within Sora's hood. Jiminy was probably busy adding to his journal. For nearly half an hour they made their way through the maze. The outline of the portal grew closer and closer as they walked. Everything was going smoothly...right up until they made it to the exit. The portal was now a football field's length from where they were standing.

"This was easier than I expected!" said Donald as he stepped forward.

"Don't jinx it!" Goofy warned. Too late. The black wall expanded to encompass the area of two football fields in the blink of an eye. A blackish dome stood high above their heads. The empty area in front of them was now filled with hordes of Heartless. These Heartless looked different. They looked darker and much, _much_ more powerful.

"Great," Lucy sighed as she readied her sword. The Heartless began advancing on them.

"CHARGE!" cried Sora as he raised the Keyblade. They all took off in a run towards the portal. They swung their weapons as they tore through the crowd of Heartless. Lucy felt claws grabbing at her clothes but she swatted them away with several attacks from her sword. Donald shot fireballs and lightning strikes into the crowd and Goofy tossed his shield back and forth. Sora did a mixture of magic and physical attacks. The area was soon filled with black gas and escaping hearts. They were getting extremely close to the portal now. Lucy could now see that the portal looked like it was made up of specks of star dust. Once they made it past the horde, however, an alternate version of the Heartless they had battled in front of the Hollow Bastion keyhole stood before them. Lucy and Sora brought their blades together in an instant of desperation and shot the Heartless down, with Donald sending in some fireballs to finish the job. The portal stood before them and the Heartless army stood behind them, though it was growing larger and was continuing to chase after them. "Come on! Into the portal!"

They all ran forward at once. The Heartless were close behind them. Goofy was the first to jump through. He disappeared in a flash of light. Donald was next. He let out a frightened yell as the portal engulfed him. Lucy found herself falling behind. Sora looked back and shot a lightning bolt at a Heartless that had been gaining up on her. He then grabbed her hand and pulled her forward. Lucy and Sora passed through the portal together. Lucy closed her eyes happily as a feeling of warmth enveloped her body.


	24. Snow of the Lost

Chapter 24: Snow of the Lost

The warm feeling in Lucy's body disappeared quickly and was replaced by that of a cold chill. She quickly regained her balanced and opened her eyes. She found herself staring out towards a large canyon constructed out of black rock and ice ledges. A light snowfall was emanating from the black sky above them and faint laser trails of sorts extended between the walls of the canyon. Lucy looked over the edge and saw that the canyon seemed to extend down into infinity. She wasn't keen on finding out what lay at the bottom. She turned back expecting the portal to the reflective ocean to be there but saw nothing but a black rock wall. There was no turning back now.

"So where do we go from here?" Donald asked as he proceeded to make a ball of light appear at the tip of his staff. It was at this moment that Lucy realized how dark and cold it was in the canyon and how thankful she was that she was still wearing the brown overcoat that she had kept with her since her departure from London. Sora looked over the edge.

"I guess we go down," he guessed.

"To where? There's nothing down there!"

"I fear that Ansem's trail has gone cold," said Lucy.

"But we can't give up now," said Goofy.

"And we're not. We just need to find out where exactly Ansem went off to." For several minutes, they stood on their respective ice ledge and looked out over the frozen canyon before them. Then something caught Lucy's eyes. A faint, bluish light could be seen emanating from far below. "Do you see that light?"

"I see it," Sora replied.

"Could that be where Ansem went?" Donald asked.

"Most likely," Lucy added.

"It's not like we have anywhere else to go anyway," said Sora.

"Okay, but there's just one problem. How do we get down to it?" Donald asked. This was a problem. Their ledge was just an isolated piece of ice attached to the side of the canyon wall. There was no pathway leading down to the light.

"We could try jumping for it," said Goofy.

"We'll never make it!"

"Donald's right," said Lucy. "Trying to jump from here would be suicide. You might hit a ledge or you might just keep falling into the darkness, and I'm not keen on finding out what's down there."

"There _must_ be a way down," said Sora.

"And I bet there is. We're just missing it." They scoped their ledge out for a moment. Lucy looked at Goofy and realized that he was getting dangerously close to the edge. "Be careful, Goofy." Too late. Goofy lost his footing and began to fall. "GOOFY!" Then..._thud_. Goofy fell onto a piece of apparently invisible ground that was connected to the side of their ledge. "It...it's an invisible ledge!"

Sora took a handful of snow and tossed it out. It proceeded to land on an invisible pathway that led downwards.

"More like an invisible pathway. Looks like we've found our way down," he said with triumph. Donald helped Goofy up while Lucy and Sora gathered up large amounts of snow in their arms to use as a sort of bread crumb trail in order to make sure that they didn't fall off the invisible path. Lucy was surprised to find that the snow didn't even melt as she held onto it. She and Sora took the lead and spread snow out on the pathway before them. As Lucy let her snow drop, she couldn't help but feel that there was something odd about it, and it was nothing to do with the fact that it didn't melt. There were times when it didn't even feel like snow. It felt warm and...fleshy and yet it still looked like normal icy snow. She looked at Sora and he looked back at her with an expression that she felt matched hers perfectly. "You feel it too?"

"Yes. What's going on? It doesn't even feel like snow!" Lucy replied.

"To be honest...I really don't want to know." Lucy thought about it for a moment and nodded.

"Same here."

Lucy didn't know how long it was until they finally reached the second gateway. Had it been a few minutes? A half hour? Several hours? A day? She couldn't tell. Time didn't seem have have a place to exist in this world. Lucy, Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked deep into the greenish portal before them. It looked like a vat of swirling gas mixed with some slightly liquified mush. It definitely didn't look like something that Lucy was keen on passing through.

"Do you think Ansem lies on the other side of this gateway?" Sora asked.

"I wouldn't assume it to be that simple. No, this will only lead us to the next leg of our journey," Lucy guessed.

"He's probably somewhere in the heart of this world...that is if this world even has a heart," said Goofy.

"Maybe it's a mixture of hearts: hearts lost to the darkness."

"What makes you think that?" Donald asked.

"This world. It seems to not just have a life of its own but several lives of its own. The snow feels like skin...the frozen skin of those lost...dismembered and torn by the powers of darkness." Everybody shivered at the thought.

"Let's not dwell on it," Sora suggested.

"Good idea," said Goofy. They stood in silence for a moment, just staring into the gateway before them. They then grabbed onto each other's hands and jumped down.

The next moment, Lucy found herself and the others standing in the middle of what appeared to be a small cavern. There were no walls. The ceiling was suspended above them by a magical force of sorts. The lights of dying cities could be seen glowing in the darkness around them. Teeth-like formations protruded down from the edges of the ceiling and up from the edges of the floor. Both the ceiling and the floor were covered in the fleshy snow of the lost. Orbs of light appeared at the edges of the area and disappeared seconds later. Finally, a set of four orbs appeared at the four "corners" of the circular tooth room. Sora touched one but nothing seemed to happen. Just then, an idea popped into Lucy's head.

"What if we each touch an orb at the same time?" she suggested. "It appears that we're trapped in this cavern...room...what have you. Maybe touching the orbs at once will trigger something."

"Is this another one of your _feelings_?" Donald asked.

"You could say that."

"I'll go with it. Your feelings have been right so far." Lucy smiled as she approached the nearest orb. She, Sora, Donald, and Goofy then reached out their hands and touched their respective orbs.

The room vanished and Lucy found herself standing in the middle of an open field. A wall of trees surrounded the field on all sides. A single log stood in the middle of the field and sitting on the log was what appeared to be a yellow bear in a red shirt.

"Am...am I in another world?" Lucy asked herself. She approached the bear cautiously and proceeded to tap him on the shoulder. He turned around the face her. He had a nice face. "Hello. Where am I exactly?"

"The 100 Acre Wood. My name's Winnie the Pooh, but you can call me Pooh for short," said the bear. Lucy couldn't help but smirk at the thought of how odd a name like _Winnie the Pooh_ was. "Are you a friend of Sora's?"

"You know Sora?"

"Yes. We're very good friends. You look like somebody who would know him."

"Well, I do. Name's Lucy. Lucy Pevensie."

"Very nice to meet you, Lucy. Say, would you like to have some honey with me?" Lucy looked deep into the bear's eyes and couldn't help but think how adorable he looked. She couldn't bare telling him _no_.

"I would love-"

"No, Lucy!" commanded a deep, familiar voice. "You mustn't fall under this world's temptations! None of this is real! Remember your reason for being here!"

"Aslan."

"Come again?" Pooh asked. Lucy thought back to Sora, Donald, Goofy, Ansem, and the End of the World.

"I'm sorry, Pooh. I'd love to stay...but I have something to do right now."

"But you simply must stay!"

"But I can't. I'm sorry." Lucy began to walk towards the trees.

"You shall not leave!" cried an angry voice from the opposite side of the field. Lucy turned back. Pooh disappeared in a ball of black smoke. Lucy's eyes widened in fear as she saw a horse-drawn carriage making its way towards her. Guiding the horses was a Heartless and sitting in the back of the carriage was none other than the White Witch. Lucy didn't feel like she was ready to take on Jadis just yet. She began sprinting towards the trees. Jadis stood up in her carriage and unsheathed her wand. Lucy ran faster and faster. The world seemed to melt away as she grew closer and closer to the trees. Jadis yelled as she threw her wand at Lucy. Lucy was already mostly gone and the wand just phased through her. The carriage bore down on Lucy as the world disappeared around her.

Lucy gasped in shock as she found herself back in the tooth room. A plume of red fire was spewing out of the center of the room. The fleshy snow was melting around it. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were lying on the ground, unconscious.

"SORA! DONALD! GOOFY!" Lucy cried. A powerful force began pulling her towards the fire. There was nothing to grab onto. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were being pulled towards the fire also. Lucy closed her eyes as she fell into the fiery portal and red flames began lapping around her body.


	25. Battle of Bald Mountain

Chapter 25: Battle of Bald Mountain

Lucy nearly fainted when she opened her eyes again. She, Sora, Donald, and Goofy appeared to be floating in the middle of a dark void of swirling clouds. There was nothing under her, nothing above her, and nothing around her. They were just floating. Floating in an endless abyss. It was easy for Lucy to start thinking calmly for it was completely silent in the void. The only thing she could hear was her own series of raspy breaths. She thought back to everything that had previously happened: arrival at the End of the World, the reflective sea, the fleshy snow, Winnie the Pooh, Jadis, and the pillar of fire. Now she was lost in darkness. For a moment, she thought that the fire had killed her and now she was where Sora had ended up when he had become a Heartless. But she quickly figured that it couldn't be that simple or tragic. She was alive. That, at least, was something that she was confident that she knew. She looked at her fellow companions and wished dearly that they would awaken from their cold slumbers. It wasn't nice being alone in the dark. Then she heard it: a loud roar piercing through the nothing. It sounded far away yet Lucy could tell that it was growing closer. She was definitely not keen on finding out what was rushing towards her. She unsheathed her sword and placed her free hand over the pocket that held her cordial.

"Aslan, help us," she said under her breath. That was when she felt something solid appear under her feet. She looked down to find herself standing on a pale, rocky surface. Sora, Donald, and Goofy began regaining consciousness upon the appearance of the ground. Lucy couldn't help but sigh happily, but the time to relax was not now.

"Where are we?" asked Donald as he stood up.

"In the dark," Goofy replied.

"I was able to figure out that much on my own!"

"What happened to you three?" Lucy asked.

"I'm still confused about that. I found myself back in Traverse Town and Leon and the others were there. They were acting strange," Sora replied. "Then everything just went black."

"I was in a place called the 100 Acre Wood where I met a bear named Winnie the Pooh as well as ran into the White Witch."

"You saw Pooh?!"

"Yes, but it wasn't him. The 100 Acre Wood I visited was just an illusion created by the darkness of this world and the Heartless inhabiting it. The White Witch, however, I believe was no façade."

"Gawrsh, I'm glad you were able to escape her," said Goofy.

"Me too, but I can't keep running from her forever. I'm going to have to face her sooner or later. Whether it be before, during, or after we face Ansem is...unknown."

"So where are we anyway?" Donald asked. Lucy looked around and examined the area around her. There wasn't much to examine. Her vision could only extend so far in the darkness and, basically, that's all there was: rock and darkness. Just then, a bright light appeared out of nowhere. Sora was raising the Keyblade into the air, a ball of light was emanating from the tip.

"That's better," said Sora. Lucy smiled and nodded.

"Yes, but we still can't see much," she replied.

"At least we're not lost in the dark anymore," said Goofy.

"We still kinda are," Donald added. Then the roar that Lucy had heard earlier rang out again. This time, it sounded like it was coming from a much closer location. "What was that?!"

"I heard it earlier. I have a feeling that whatever's making that sound is not going to be friendly with us," Lucy said with a gulp.

"Once again, we're on the same page, Lucy," said Sora.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Donald asked.

"Just start walking, I guess." Sora pointed the Keyblade forward and began walking in a random direction. Lucy shrugged her shoulders. There weren't that many other options to take anyway. Donald and Goofy kept close behind Lucy and Sora as they began their trek into the darkness.

Lucy missed the light. She missed it terribly. She would have even be happy to see the twilight light of the reflective sea. But, now, she was completely lost in darkness. There was definitely no turning back now. Occasionally, the roar of the mysterious creature would pierce the silence only to go away for several minutes. Lucy laughed at the thought of the passage of time. Time didn't exist in this world. She was unsure about how long she had spent walking through the dark. Had it been a few minutes? A few days? A few hours? A few years? It was impossible to tell here in the heart of the End of the World. Lucy soon began to notice that the ground beneath her feet was beginning to turn into an upwards slant. They were climbing up to something. Lucy had a feeling that the roaring creature was what awaited them at the end of the trail.

At some random point of their journey, a tiring feeling washed over Lucy's body as well as the bodies of her companions and they all decided to take a short break. Upon sitting on the rock ground, Lucy found that it didn't feel like rock. It felt like smooth leather.

"Fantastic. Flesh snow and now leather rock. Things just keep getting better," Lucy sighed.

"Tell me about it!" groaned Donald. Lucy had realized how loud she had been talking and she blushed slightly. Then the roar broke the silence again. This time, it sounded like it was coming from right above them. Everybody fell silent. Lucy felt her heart jump up into her chest. Everybody then proceeded to draw their weapons.

"It's right above us, isn't it?" Goofy whispered.

"I think it is," Sora replied with a whisper. Everything fell silent again. Lucy estimated that a minute had passed since they had heard the roar. She was about to whisper something to Donald when a large claw came out of nowhere and punched the ground between them. A shockwave spread out and Lucy found herself flying over the edge of a cliff. Thankfully, she managed to embed her sword into the surface of the rock, which proved to be much weaker than expected. A bright light broke through the darkness. Lucy's eyes went wide.

They were on a mountainside. The mountain was tall, black, and just humongous. An abyss of dark clouds surrounded the bottom of the mountain and a smooth, starless, black sky expanded off into the hopeless horizon. The most shocking thing that Lucy saw, however, was the gigantic demon rising out from the top of the mountain. The demon was all black, had piercing yellow eyes, large white teeth, a blood-red tongue, and a wingspan large enough to swallow all of London. Lucy could only imagine that she and the others appeared like the ants of ants to this massive beast. The demon brought down one of its claws and punched the side of the mountain in an attempt to knock Lucy and the others off. Sora ran over and helped pull Lucy back to safety. Donald pointed his staff up at the demon. A large cloud appeared above the monster. Thousands of lightning bolts rained down on the demon. The demon screamed as electricity burned its skin. This feat of magic was clearly draining Donald of his energy so Sora stepped in and used a quick healing spell to give Donald an extra boost.

"How are we going to defeat it?!" asked Goofy.

"Climb!" Sora replied as he began scaling up the side of the mountain. Lucy quickly saw that there wasn't much mountain between where they were standing and the spot where the demon's body merged with the mountaintop. Lucy then began climbing up the mountain after Sora. Goofy followed behind Lucy and Donald, following his letting go of the thundercloud, began his ascent as well. The demon tried to swipe them off the mountain but they were climbing at a certain angle that put them just out of the demon's clear reach. Lucy quickly noted to herself how difficult it was to climb a mountain with a sword in one hand. She forced herself to not look down for she knew that was the worst of choices she could choose at the moment. However, Lucy couldn't help but scream as the mountain shook around her. Large boulders rolled down the sides and nearly crushed them. Lucy could feel her palms growing sweaty.

"This isn't the time!" Lucy snapped to herself. Then, from above, she heard a loud roar and caught sight of a giant flash of light. Sora had made it up to the demon's skin and had plunged the Keyblade deep into its hide. Lucy quickly made her way up to where Sora was and plunged her own sword into the hide. The demon screamed and yelled as it brought one of its claws down. Lucy and Sora pressed themselves against the side of the mountain as the claw came down and swept past them. Lucy then proceeded to make a large gash in the demon's side. Lights of different colors appeared to pour out from the demon's wound. Lucy was amazed that the weapons were causing the creature that much pain for the weapons were probably like toothpicks to the monster. A strange energy seemed to be pouring from both Lucy's sword and the Keyblade. The combined energies were causing the demon to experience a terrible pain. Donald then pointed his staff up at the demon and send a barrage of fireballs at the creature. The creature screamed as its body burned away. Lucy knew that she should feel glad that they were winning the fight, but it was all too easy. There had to be a catch. This catch came quickly for as the creature began to die, the mountain beneath them began to erode away. The entire demon suddenly exploded into a cloud of gas, clouds, rock, and light. For a moment, Lucy found herself staring down into the hollow interior of the mountain. Then the sides of the mountain began to collapse. Lucy, Sora, Donald, and Goofy held onto each other as they once again fell into the abyss.


End file.
